The state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper, reviewing the performance of governments over the past six years, reported a 120% lag of wages behind inflation as claimed by state centers. However, experts believe that this gap, based on people’s experience of rising costs and changes in how inflation is calculated, exceeds 120%.
In its Monday, September 30th edition, Ham-Mihan wrote, “Some workers and their families have signed a petition asking the president to submit a bill to parliament for wage adjustments in 2024 based on inflation rates announced by the Central Bank.”
The Ham-Mihan reporter also criticized the performance of past governments, stating, “It is inflation that dictates workers’ wages, not the plans and solutions of the Labor Minister or the government.”
In this regard, Asghar Ahaniha, a representative of employers in the Supreme Labor Council, told the newspaper, “Until inflation is brought under control, the issue of workers’ wages will not be resolved.”
Alireza Mirghafari, a workers’ representative in the Supreme Labor Council, also told Ham-Mihan, “Some of the issues raised by the minister, such as linking wages to productivity or regional wages, are secondary matters. He needs to address and resolve the core issue fundamentally.”
Mirghafari further emphasized, “Given the repression of wages in past years, even if wages increase in line with inflation, it will not be sufficient to cover a family’s basic living expenses.”
Similarly, on September 15th, Mohammad Baqer Metani, the vice president of the Tehran Workers Association announced that workers had requested a meeting of the Supreme Labor Council to review wages.
Metani stressed, “In a year when the minimum cost of living is 170 million rials (approximately $284), how was the wage set at 95 million rials (around $159)?” According to Metani, despite inflation exceeding 40%, the government and employers agreed on a wage increase of around 30%.
Workers’ protests and demands for a wage review stem from the government’s neglect of their living conditions in setting the 2024 wages, which, amid ongoing inflation, have pushed workers’ livelihoods into a critical situation.
Based on the latest calculations, the basic living expenses have risen to over 300 million rials (about $500) in large cities and the capital, and 220 million rials (around $367) in smaller cities. Meanwhile, on March 13th, the government-affiliated Tasnim news agency had reported during the wage-setting process that “according to official statistics, the poverty line for a family of four is around 250 million rials (approximately $417).”
Despite this, during mid-March meetings of the Supreme Labor Council, the government and employers reached a decision that workers’ representatives in the Minimum Wage Committee refused to sign. However, due to the structure set by Iran’s labor law for the Supreme Labor Council, this refusal did not affect the final decision, and the government issued the committee’s resolution for implementation.
