Following the strike and protest gathering of hundreds of workers from the National Iranian Steel Industrial Group in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the Iranian regime has reportedly issued arrest warrants for 50 employees of the complex threatening them that “their contracts will be terminated”.
According to the Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers, following the banning of a number of workers from entering the complex building of the National Iranian Steel Industrial Group, hundreds of their colleagues staged strike and gathered in front of the complex building on Saturday, April 25.
The workers called for the removal of ban on their colleagues’ entry to the complex allowing them to enter the building and working areas.
According to the Free Trade Union, the head of security department announced that arrest warrant was issued for 50 workers and the police and security forces would gradually arrest them.
The public relations office of the industrial complex announced in a statement that they would deal with the protesters legally and their contracts would be terminated.
At present, only the piping section of the complex is active with 400 workers, and the rest of the sectors are not active due to lack of raw materials.
According to the decision of the CEO and the board, “people who block the production and loading of products and waste, their time cards will be blocked, their contracts will be rescinded and they will be dealt with according to regulations!”
According to this order, “any unlawful gathering is considered a crime and, in addition to termination of the contract, the perpetrators will be introduced to the judicial authorities.”
Farhad Afsharinia, head of the regime’s justice system in Khuzestan, considered the workers’ gathering “unlawful” on March 4 and threatened, “Our patience is limited and if their gatherings continue, we will have to also deal with these other people.”
Workers in the complex have warned against these threats and said that as long as their expelled colleagues are not returned to their jobs, the new round of protests and strike will continue.
Four thousand workers of the National Iranian Steel Industrial Group have been able to receive two months of their arrears in wages following their strikes, marching and gathering in front of the governorate of Khuzestan in the last weeks of the past year. However, part of their claims has not yet been paid.
In recent years, non-payment of wages has become one of the biggest problems for workers, and this has led to industrial workers’ protests in different parts of Iran.
A number of workers and labor activists have also been arrested in recent years in various parts of Iran or imprisoned for security charges.
Source » ncr-iran