This report is the outcome of Volunteer Activists’ (VA) effort to undertake a comprehensive examination of labour issues and labour protests in Iran in the period January – June 2023. It is the second in a series of biannual reports on these issues that Volunteer Activists (VA) will publish in the coming years.
In doing so, VA aims to offer the international community more insights into current labour issues and labour protests in Iran. Knowing that their voices are heard internationally, is highly important for Iran’s labour movement. Also, by gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs of Iranian workers, as well as the capacities and needs of trade unions advocating for these, subsequent programs and activities could be designed by international donors to meet these organizational needs, resulting in greater impact. Given its contacts in Iran, VA is relatively well positioned to provide this information.
The Iranian labour landscape is vastly diverse and mapping the situation regarding labour issues and labour struggles was only possible through comprehensive and intensive research. Our assessment of the situation regarding labour issues and labour rights has been based on both primary and secondary sources. VA conducted interviews, sometimes online, with some of our labour activists on the ground. (Verified) media reports and published research were the secondary data source, alongside social media monitoring.
Based on this research, the following key observations can be made on labour issues and labour protests in Iran in the period January - June 2023:

Whereas political protests largely stopped in 2023, labour protests continued, showing the vibrancy of the Iranian labour movement.
Protests were highly diverse in character, including marches to Parliament, strikes and sit-ins to online campaigns aimed at changing law-making together with other representatives of Iran’s civil society.
The government’s response to the labor protests was marked by duality. On one hand, it suppressed independent labor unions and activists and ignored workers’ demands. On the other hand, it attempted to appease certain worker groups by making some concessions.

Key Findings

VA’s research found that from April to June 2023, the number of protests rose fourfold compared with the same period in 2022.
Dozens of trade union and labour activists were fired, denied salaries and arrested and prosecuted during the past six months just for trying to assert trade union and labour rights.
While the intensity of the government’s suppressive tactics continues to hamper labor protests in Iran, labour protests were on the rise in several economic sectors, including oil, public sector, railway maintenance and cargo transport.
The Iranian government is actively pursuing numerous legal changes that impact labor rights in Iran, with implications that can be both positive and negative.
Besides labour protests addressing sector-specific issues, there were also protests regarding broader legislative issues, including those concerning the setting of the minimum wage.
Public campaigns launched in conjunction with other organizations, such as women‘s groups, have served as platforms for collaboration, bringing together labor unions and various stakeholders to work towards common goals.
By adopting innovative organizational strategies and implementing more effective actions, Iranian labor unions have the potential to inspire greater successes.
Iranian workers across sectors have increased cooperation online, using public statements and protest campaigns to disseminate their grievances and demands, such as February’s Charter of Minimum Demands.
The international community can help Iranian CSOs, including by putting pressure on the Iranian government in meetings of international organizations to allow independent trade unions in Iran and by stimulating foreign press coverage on Iranian labor struggles.

Analyses

From January to June 2023, there was a notable increase in anti-government protests among wage earners, despite the restricted space for activism following the suppression of the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Investigations by “Volunteer Activists” on the gatherings and strikes that were reported inIranian media17 show that an average of 60 acts of protest occurred each month fromJanuary 2022 to June 2023.

During the period under scrutiny, worker protests considerably increased, particularly after the government‘s controversial approval of the new minimum wage in March 2023. The strikes reached their climax in April- May, mainly because of the extensive strikes of oil and gas project workers.

Numerous groups that organized street protests and online campaigns inthe previous period under study continued their activism from April to June.These groups include pensioners covered by the Social Security Organization,teachers, oil, gas, and petrochemical industry workers, municipal workers, andtruck drivers. Although on the whole the protests yielded relatively little,the achievements of some of these protests keep the window of hope for activismopen.

Achievements include:

In June 2023, the Ministry of Petroleum agreed to implement theprovisions of Article 10 of the Ministry of Petroleum‘s Duties and Powers Act,benefitting both permanent and contractual employees.
Following the strike action in May, the campaign of oil project workersresulted in improved employment contracts with some contractors, includingmajor ones.
Campaigns against four anti-worker articles in the Seventh NationalDevelopment Plan forced the government to withdraw two of the mostcontroversial articles, including those allowing the payment of half theminimum wage to new recruits for up to three years and unilateral workerdismissal by employers.

Meanwhile, legal victories were secured for trade unionactivists: the Administrative Tribunal declared „participation in trade unionactivities“ as legal, leading to the exoneration of a teacher facing charges forattending trade union gatherings. The Supreme Court also exonerated a tradeunion activist charged with propaganda against the state due to trade unionactivities. These verdicts may set a precedent for other teachers, as well asother workers, facing similar charges.

However, despite these achievements, the government‘s treatment of worker demands and protests was unfavourable to workers, with the government employing the following two strategies:

Avoidance

Ignoring the demands, postponing approval of protective and supportive rules and regulations and failure to enforce laws (such as the two-year delay in ratifying the law for organizing public sector employees in the Parliament, failure to properly implement the rating law, defective implementation of nursing services tariffing and so on).

Repression

Employing violent, punitive, and suppressive measures against activists and trade or worker associations, including by beating or even shooting worker rights activists, by threatening and intimidating them and/ or by excluding them for job rating systems or other job benefits or by firing them.

If workers‘ demands are not meaningfully addressed, protests are likely to deepen, expand, and disperse. The labour market‘s increasing instability and the worsening economic crisis have led to a rise in protests. A review of the demands of workers shows that the ongoing and deepened disparity between wages/pensions and living costs is turning into one of the most important causes for workers’ protests and social unrest. Despite a severe crackdown towards the end of 2022, the worker movement has remained dynamic, and protests have continued.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Iranian Trade Union Activists

Protest patterns vary across different sectors. Teachers engage inpolitical and trade union struggles, while Telecom pensioners focus on tradeunion activities and lobbying to achieve their goals. However, all groups involvedin labour protests face common challenges:

Limited mobilizingand organizational power, which hinders widespread participation.
Lack of toleranceand cooperation among Iranian trade unions.
Poor discursive andorganizational ability in negotiating with policymakers, particularly regardingwages.

Protestors have not proactively engaged in a conversation with thegovernment on the seventh development plan, nor have they shown intentions tobuild a relationship through dialogue. Instead, workers’ representatives tendto adopt a ‚we are against, hear our demands‘ approach, rather than a morecollaborative ‚we want to talk along‘ attitude. In short, due to the lack of abroader approach18 – and in spite of limited resources such as strikefunds – many worker and trade union protests remain confined to street orworkplace actions, leading to a prolonged and exhausting process. Theseprotests, led by various groups including worker activists in differentsectors, represent a wide spectrum of Iranian workers who share commongrievances. To achieve results, adopting a broader approach is crucial, asdemonstrated by case studies worldwide.

In light of the labour movement‘s structural weaknesses in counteringsystemic suppression of workers (activists), we recommend the following actionsfor trade union and labour activists:

Periodical assessments: Conduct regular assessments of weaknesses, strengths,threats, and opportunities in field and virtual activities.
Document events: Record protest events and outcomes through officialand unofficial workers‘ associations to enhance learning capacity.
Strategic planning: Utilize short-term, mid-term, and long-term strategiesto promote trade union actions and garner popular support.
Foster cooperation: Cultivate an attitude of tolerance and cooperationamong unions and avoid undermining each other‘s efforts.
Mental resilience: Learn and employ techniques for mental resilience tonavigate critical conditions and maintain morale.
Stakeholder participation: Create and revitalize assemblies,organizations, and informal associations to maximize stakeholder involvement.
Leverage social media: Utilize social media to assessneeds, mobilize support, and establish virtual associations.
Form alliances: Create inclusive alliances to pursue common demandssuch as wage increases and more permanent contracts and work toward anannulment of laws which restrict the formation and free operation ofindependent worker associations or harm workers’ rights in other ways.
Get international support: Complain to internationalinstitutions like the International Labour Organization and the Committee onFreedom of Association in cases of (severe) labour rights violations.

Recommendations for the Iranian government

Recommendations for the International Community

Members of thei nternational community can bolster the efforts of Iranian labour activists to improve the livelihoods of workers inIran. Policy makers, labour unions and other international actors outside Iran can engage in the following activities:

Help Iranian labour unions diversity their methods of protest

‍Share information and best practices on the use of social media and lobbying with Iranian workers. The use of social media as a means to pressure employers and the government to advocate on behalf of workers’ needs is essential for successful social activism and strategic planning.

Support advocacy training and capacity building among Iranian labour unions, for instance through targeted online programs for Iranian labour activists. Provide training on the use of infographics, videoclips, and other tools.

Stimulate and support the creation of independent labour unions

Advocate to theGovernment of Iran and the International Labour Organization to allow free and independent labour unions in Iran.

Strengthen trade union leadership in Iran

Share best practices and skills to support worker rights activists and trade union leaders in their efforts to secure better working conditions for workers and their communities. This includes negotiation skills, using existing labour laws, exploiting legal strategies, etc. Share information and knowledge to call out the Iranian government through the ILO and elsewhere in violations of fundamental human rights; for example, when arresting labour union leaders.

Increase the visibility of Iranian workers around the world

The international community could try and promote more (international) media coverage on (organized) labour struggles in Iran by connecting to journalists. Although international media attention doesn‘t guarantee success, it can provide valuable support to worker activists who face difficult and dangerous circumstances on a daily basis in a country in which the working class continues to be heavily marginalized.

Through all of the actions above, the international community can bolster Iranian labour unions and strengthen their position against the Iranian government. Consequently, the voices of Iranian workers would garner increased recognition, potentially paving the way for substantial improvements in their livelihoods.

A semi-annual report on worker protests and evolving labour regulations in Iran

WORKERS RIGHT WATCH - Jan to June 2023

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