A group of retirees from Iran’s Telecommunication Company continued their economic protests on Monday, November 4, organizing gatherings across several provinces, including East Azerbaijan, Gilan, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, and Isfahan. Simultaneously, protests by nurses resumed.
These protests took place at least in the cities of Tabriz, Rasht, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, and Isfahan on Monday.
During the weekly gathering of telecommunications retirees in Tabriz, protesters held signs demanding their claims be addressed, chanting: “Lying officials, what happened to your promises?”
Retired protesters in Rasht also chanted, “We don’t want an indifferent minister.”
Retirees in Ahvaz protested with slogans like “Shareholder, have some shame, give up the company” and “Lying shareholder, where are your promises?”
In Kermanshah, protesters chanted, “Neither cold nor heat can stop us,” and “Half pay, that’s what we’ll get if we remain silent.”
Telecom retirees in Isfahan also shouted, “Neither Parliament nor the government cares about the people.”
The weekly protests of telecommunications retirees have been ongoing for months. Reasons include the lack of updates to welfare benefits in 2022 and 2023, management’s disregard for a 2010 legislation, issues with supplementary insurance, and unpaid claims from previous years not adjusted to current rates.
Alongside the weekly protests of telecom retirees, economic protests by nurses also resumed, with healthcare staff gathering in areas such as Zanjan and Yazd.
Protesting nurses in Zanjan called for solidarity among their colleagues, chanting, “Nurses, shout for your rights.”
In Yazd, protesters chanted, “If we don’t get our rights, we won’t work our shift.”
Worsening issues for nurses in July of this year led to a sustained national strike, during which hundreds of nurses and healthcare staff in state hospitals began protests and strikes across at least 16 provinces in Iran, continuing until September, emphasizing their professional and economic demands.
The continuation of the nurses’ strikes led to security crackdowns and the arrest of several nurses. In response, on August 29, the U.S. Department of State and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) expressed concern over the “unjust detention and sentencing” of protesting nurses in Iran.
The expansion of sectoral protests across various groups, including retirees, workers in multiple industries, teachers, individuals who lost savings, and healthcare workers, reflects rising economic hardships in Iran and the perceived inattention of regime officials to these issues.
