Economic protests in Iran continued yesterday with weekly gatherings of retired employees from the Telecommunication Company of Iran in several cities, marches, and protests by oil and gas industry workers in the provinces of Bushehr, Khuzestan, and Hormozgan, as well as a rally of retirees from various organizations in Tehran.
According to reports on social media on Monday, September 16, a number of protesting retirees from the Telecommunication Company held simultaneous gatherings in several cities, including Tabriz, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Bijar.
These retirees are protesting against poor living conditions, wages below the poverty line, ineffective supplementary insurance, the removal of grocery benefits from their job perks, and the failure of major shareholders to implement the 2010 regulations after the privatization of the state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran.
The protesting retirees in Khuzestan province also chanted slogans such as “From Khuzestan to Tehran, shame on the oppressors” and “Frozen livelihoods don’t help us.”
Retired protesters in Kurdistan province also joined the demonstrations.
The series of protests by Telecommunication Company retirees, which are held simultaneously across various regions of Iran every Monday, were also held this week in other cities, including Isfahan, Tabriz, and Marivan.
Protests by Retired Telecommunication Employees in Tabriz
The weekly protests by Telecommunication Company retirees have been ongoing for months. Key reasons for these protests include the failure to update welfare allowances in 2022 and 2023 and the non-payment of previous years’ dues at current rates.
Protests by Retired Telecommunication Employees in Isfahan and Kurdistan
The executive regulations of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 2010, pertain to the tasks that can be outsourced and how services can be procured from the private sector. According to these regulations, until the obstacles to privatization are removed, the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the government. However, 14 years after the regulation’s approval and despite continuous and repeated protests by these retirees, it appears that neither have the privatization barriers been resolved, nor has the government fulfilled its responsibilities toward the protesters.
Protests by Oil and Gas Industry Workers
In another event, workers at petrochemical terminals and storage facilities in Bandar Mahshahr, Khuzestan province, held a protest.
According to the Iranian Retirees Council, the reasons for this protest include the “failure to implement employee status conversion in line with neighboring companies, non-payment of petro-cards, deductions from productivity bonuses, failure to implement the job classification plan for contract employees, and repeated issues with timely payment of social insurance.”
Additionally, a number of workers from the Fajr Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr and Pars Oil and Gas Company in Assaluyeh held protests and marches on Monday to express their dissatisfaction with unfulfilled contracts and deductions from their payments.
At the protest, workers chanted slogans such as “Employment contracts must be implemented, illegitimate deductions must be canceled.”
Protests by oil and gas industry workers have also taken place in previous days.
The expansion of labor protests among various groups, including retirees, workers from different industries, teachers, defrauded investors, nurses, and healthcare workers, reflects the growing economic challenges in Iran and the disregard of Iranian regime officials.
