Iranian workers to march 350km to Tehran for overdue wages

Iran Focus: Tehran, Dec. 27 – More than 200 workers from Iran Pars Garment plan to hold a rally over back pay in Tehran this week. They will begin a march from the city of Rasht (northern Gilan province) to the Iranian capital, the state-run news agency ILNA said. The workers have not received their salaries for the past seven months and Gilan Workers’ Union demands for government action have proven fruitless.
Iran Focus

Tehran, Dec. 27 – More than 200 workers from Iran Pars Garment plan to hold a rally over back pay in Tehran this week. They will begin a march from the city of Rasht (northern Gilan province) to the Iranian capital, the state-run news agency ILNA said.

The workers have not received their salaries for the past seven months and Gilan Workers’ Union demands for government action have proven fruitless.

Over-due wages have become routine in Iran in recent years as the government has not been enforcing laws and regulations concerning workers’ wages and benefits. Often, it has sided with factory owners and clamped down on workers’ protests.

Last week, workers at Khorram Vault-making Company went on an indefinite strike to protest overdue wages and management corruption. They have not received their salaries for the past three months.

They complained that despite a deadline by the Ministry of Labour for the management to buy factory-safe-shoes and aprons three months ago, these items have still not been provided to them.

In a separate development last week, cotton factory workers from the central Iranian town of Khomein protested outside the Interior Ministry’s provincial headquarters, demanding that the government pay their overdue salaries.

Many protesters said the non-payment of their wages had made it impossible to make ends meet. One worker suffered a heart attack due to poor working conditions at the factory and could not afford proper medical treatment, the protesters said.