According to a report by the regime’s semi-official ILNA news agency, the meeting of the Supreme Labor Council is scheduled to be held on November 20, but “the official agenda of the session does not mention the issue of wage adjustment.”
According to the report, the main topic of the session, as stated in the invitation received by the “labor members” of the council, is “addressing workers’ housing.”
Previously, the meeting of the Supreme Labor Council was held on October 30, responsible for determining the minimum wage for workers covered by the labor law, without making a decision regarding the widespread protests against the low wages compared to the cost of living.
ILNA, quoting Mohsen Bagheri, who was mentioned as a workers’ representative in this council, wrote: “It was decided that the discussion of wage restoration would be examined in sessions with the presence of representatives of the government, employers, and workers as experts, and ultimately, at the end of November, an official session for wage restoration would be held.”
The regime is completely indifferent to the real hardships of the people and does not take steps to alleviate the economic problems.
In this regard, Sowlat Mortazavi, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, and other officials of this ministry and the Organization for Planning and Budget have repeatedly opposed increasing workers’ wages, a position that has been supported by representatives of employers.
Currently, the minimum wage for workers covered by the labor law, who are married and with children, with benefits, is about 80 million rials (approximately $158) per month.
However, according to reports published in the regime’s official news agencies, hundreds of thousands of workers employed in small and so-called “under staircase” workshops that are not covered by the labor law are deprived of even this amount.
This year, the minimum wage for a worker covered by the labor law is 53.08 million rials. Comparing the dollar value of this figure shows that in March of this year, a worker’s wage was equivalent to about $120, while now, in November, the value of this wage has dropped to less than $100. In simple terms, in a six-month period, one-fifth of a worker’s wage value has plummeted.
This is happening while hunger, poverty, and misery are rampant in society, and we witness almost daily gatherings and protests by workers, wage earners, and retirees.
According to reports from social networks and trade union media, workers’ and guilds’ protests continue in some parts of Iran. On November 18, a group of farmers held a protest rally in front of the governorate building in Isfahan to reiterate their demands.
This is not the first time that farmers in Isfahan province have protested against the lack of attention to their work problems.
In the past decade, various regions of Iran have witnessed protests by farmers, and last year a newspaper, citing statistics from the Iranian Statistical Center, reported on the unemployment of one-fourth of the country’s farmers over the past seven years.
At the same time, a group of temporary employees of the Ministry of Petroleum gathered in protest in front of the National Iranian South Oil Company in Ahvaz.
In western Iran, a group of nurses at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Eslamabad-e Gharb held a protest rally at their workplace.
Similarly, in central Iran, a group of nurses gathered in front of the governorate building in Yazd to protest the lack of attention to their demands.
On the eve of Nurses’ Day, nurses are protesting the delay of more than a year in their tariff and benefits and demanding an increase in their benefits and wages.
IRNA, the regime’s official news agency, reported on Saturday, November 18, quoting Shams al-Din Shamsi, a member of the Supreme Nursing System Council, that there is a shortage of more than 30,000 nurses in the country.
