Many workers in Iran file complaints against their employers after being laid off to claim their dues. The process of addressing these complaints in the labor dispute resolution offices takes months, leaving some workers and their families without money for at least six months, causing them significant hardship.
The state-run ILNA news agency, in a report, stated: “Imagine a worker who hasn’t received their wages for three months, and after an entire season of being without money, has been laid off or, in the language of today’s capitalists, ‘downsized.’ This worker has no choice but to turn to the labor dispute resolution offices to claim their rights.”
The report highlights the lengthy process of addressing workers’ complaints at labor dispute offices: “When a worker enters the system and files a complaint, they don’t wait just days or weeks, but months for their case to be addressed.”
Representatives of the government and employers in the Supreme Labor Council agreed on March 19, 2024, to a 35% increase in the minimum wage for workers in 2024.
According to this agreement, the minimum wage for workers supporting a family of four was set at 121 million rials (approximately 202 USD).
Armin Khoshvakhti, a senior labor law expert, criticized the long delays in processing workers’ complaints, telling ILNA: “Sometimes a complaining worker has to wait up to six months! There have been cases where a worker hasn’t been paid for three months and then had to wait an additional six months for their complaint to be addressed.”
Ehsan Sohrabi, a labor activist, also criticized the long and unfair process of handling workers’ complaints, telling ILNA that some employers act unjustly and unfairly, refusing to pay workers’ wages and failing to take responsibility.
Sohrabi added that these employers always act in line with the economic interests of the Chamber of Commerce, leaving desperate workers wandering the halls of provincial labor offices, facing “the stress of proving their case, rejection of their complaint, or possibly employer lobbying.”
This civil rights activist stressed that in densely populated and labor-heavy provinces, workers often receive their rights so late that it no longer feels like a right, but more like a meager handout.
According to Sohrabi, some cases take more than six months to reach a verdict, and this method of handling workers’ complaints poses dangerous challenges for their families.
He called on the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare to order a stop to the “trickle-down referral of workers’ complaint cases.”
Majid Rahmati, head of the Wage Committee of the Coordination Council of Labor Councils in Tehran Province, told ILNA on March 10 that the cost of living for a family of four in Tehran, with 3,000 calories per day, was calculated at 328.5 million rials (approximately 548 USD) and for the rest of the country at 265.5 million rials (approximately 443 USD).
An analysis of the wages set by the Supreme Labor Council for 2024 and the cost of living announced by the head of the Wage Committee for a family of four in Tehran reveals a gap of 150 million rials (approximately 250 USD) between wages and living costs.
This, along with the non-payment of workers’ dues and delays in processing their complaints, indicates that the situation for workers in Iran has worsened compared to previous years, and their families are also facing numerous problems.
ILNA, in its conclusion, pointed out the high volume of economic and labor relations problems, writing that under such circumstances, there is little hope that a worker who hasn’t been paid for months and has been laid off by a profiteering employer will receive their rights in one, two, or even three months.
In recent years, workers across Iran have repeatedly held protests and strikes over their living conditions and unpaid monthly wages, but their demands have yet to be fulfilled.
