[Labor organizing is severely restricted in Iran but independent
unions have actively backed demands for women’s rights.]
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IRANIAN LABOR UNIONS HAVE LED INSPIRING SOLIDARITY STRIKES AMID THE
UPRISING  
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Frieda Afary
January 19, 2023
Truthout
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_ Labor organizing is severely restricted in Iran but independent
unions have actively backed demands for women’s rights. _

A view of a marketplace after shopkeepers went on a three-day
shutter-down strike as part of Mahsa Amini protests in Tehran, Iran,
on December 6, 2022., Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency via Getty
Images

 

January 16 marked the fourth month of a new uprising in Iran, which
began with protests against the arrest and police murder of a young
Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, for her “improper” hijab. More
than 18,000 people have been arrested and over 500 killed
[[link removed]] by the police and the army
in the nationwide protests. Four young men were hanged for their
participation in the protests and nine others are on death row
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Another 109 protesters face the death penalty
[[link removed]]. Police and soldiers are
shooting protesters in the eyes
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and the genitals
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Reports indicate an increase [[link removed]] in
the severity of the beatings and rapes of women and men
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in custody. When some who are viciously beaten and raped by the police
die of their injuries, the government falsely claims death by suicide
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The newly appointed police chief of Iran is the notorious Ahmad Reza
Radan [[link removed]],
who spearheaded the brutal repression of the 2009 Green Movement
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and served as the repressive police chief of the provinces of
Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan.

Women continue to lead the uprising and oppose not only the compulsory
hijab but the regime itself. In the words of a feminist activist
inside Iran who wished to remain anonymous: “It is the resistance of
us women that will actually mark the future direction of history. If
we retreat, we will suffer a great loss.”

Faced with widespread refusal by women to wear the hijab or headscarf,
the Iranian prosecutor general’s office has ordered the police to
further crack down on women with punishments
[[link removed]] that can range from fines to
expropriation of one’s vehicle, loss of paid employment, loss of the
right to travel abroad, loss of government and public services, forced
labor and up to 10 years of imprisonment.

Prior to this, in the Islamic Republic, the legal punishment for women
not wearing the hijab in public was up to two months of imprisonment
and a fine
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The above mentioned additional legal punishments are new. Furthermore,
the institution of forced labor for unveiled women marks an effort to
promote mass imprisonment of women not only for the purpose of
misogynistic domination and sadistic sexual abuse, but also for the
purpose of producing economic value at a time when the country is on
the verge of economic collapse.

What also needs to be singled out is that while the majority of the
protesters in the current uprising are young, most are either from the
working class or represent the impoverished middle class in a country
where two-thirds of a population of 88 million fall under the relative
or absolute poverty line.* The four young protesters who were hanged
by the regime in December and January
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were all from the working class: Mohammad Hosseini, a poultry worker;
Mohsen Shekari, a coffee shop worker and caregiver for his
grandmother; Majid Reza Rahnavard, a shop clerk; and Mohammad Mehdi
Karami, a Kurdish karate champion and son of a street vendor.

In a country where independent labor and professional organizing is
severely restricted or banned by the state, the few existing genuine
labor unions (not state-controlled) have actively participated in the
uprising and are now explicitly supporting women’s rights and the
rights of national and ethnic minorities in their statements.

In a previous article
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I examined some of the explicit feminist dimensions of the uprising.
Here, I would like to highlight labor and working-class support for
the ongoing demonstrations. Below are a few of the organized labor
strikes
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which have explicitly stated their defense of the uprising. There were
also strikes by small businesses, shopkeepers
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merchants that took place from December 5-7 in 50 cities across Iran
in solidarity with the uprising.

A View of the Deepening Labor Dimension

On September 24, a week after protests began, the Coordination Council
for the Educators’ Guilds, whose leaders are in prison for having
organized prior strikes, issued a call for a nationwide strike
[[link removed]]. The call stated: “Dogmatic
murderers have turned the country into a military base for repressing
the protesting people.… We will strike alongside street protests so
that together we can paralyze the wheels of this repressive system and
show off the power of the oppressed to the corrupt, oppressive,
misogynist and Other-haters who hold power.” That call led to a
two-day sit-down strike which demanded the release of all arrested
students and teachers and a prohibition on the entry of police and
army personnel into educational institutions. On December 11 and 12,
teachers struck again [[link removed]] in over
60 cities nationwide.

Meanwhile, the Council of Petrochemical Contract Workers issued two
strike calls in late September and late October. Their first call
[[link removed]] on September 26 stated: “We
warn you [the government] that if the arrests, the slaughter of the
people, and the repression and harassment of women because of the
hijab is not ended, we will not stay silent. Along with the people, we
will protest and stop work.… We defend the popular struggle against
organized violence and daily violence against women, against poverty,
lack of support, and the hell which governs society.” This reference
to and recognition of daily violence against women was unprecedented
on their part because it went beyond previous demands, which were
economic and called for the release of arrested workers. Following the
strike call, on October 10 and 11
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over 4,000 petrochemical workers in the southern part of Iran
[[link removed]] went on a solidarity strike
[[link removed]].
Over 200 workers were arrested [[link removed]],
many of whom are still in prison. They attempted another strike on
October 25 [[link removed]], which was crushed
soon after it started. On December 5
[[link removed]], petrochemical contract workers
went on a three-day strike as part of a nationwide strike wave and
demanded the release of all detainees and an end to the death
sentences. On December 18 [[link removed]], the
union issued another statement, which emphasized: “We are no longer
willing to live in slavery and degradation.… The executions will not
deter us from the demand for a suitable life with dignity and
respect.” On January 17, the permanent oil workers went on a one-day
strike. However, they only stated economic demands
[[link removed]].

The Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers’ Syndicate, which has been
protesting against nonpayment of wages, low wages and terrible working
conditions for many years, issued demands on October 1, which for the
first time included the right to choose one’s attire and the right
to free speech and a free education. On October 18, they attempted a
strike but were repressed. On November 25, the syndicate issued a
joint statement [[link removed]] with
the nationwide union of retirees in which they stated: “We workers
are against any form of oppression, national oppression, gender
oppression and ultimately exploitation.… We demand the exit of all
armed repressive forces from Kurdistan and the release of all
prisoners and detainees.”

On November 23, the Union of Truck Owners and Truck Drivers issued a
nationwide strike call
[[link removed]] . The
call stated: “How can we ignore the plight of our innocent
co-workers and other people in Kurdistan, Baluchestan, Izeh [in
Khuzestan] and other bloodstained cities?” The strike started on
November 26 and joined a wave of nationwide strikes December 5 through
7. So far, four of the truck drivers who participated in the strike
have been sentenced to 1 to 10 years in prison.
[[link removed]]

The Alliance of Physicians [[link removed]] also
called on doctors, nurses and the members of the allied health field
to join a wave of nationwide strikes
[[link removed]] from December 5-7
[[link removed]].
They specifically opposed the executions, the murder, blinding and
rape of protesters, and the arrests of injured protesters by the
police and army who enter hospitals.

Disturbances in Iran’s Ruling Class?

The ongoing uprising has revealed divisions within the ruling class,
as seen most recently in the state-ordered execution of Alireza Akbari
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former deputy defense minister and former senior commander in the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was accused of spying for
Britain. Prior to his execution, Akbari had said in an audio file sent
to _BBC_ that he was being held because of his closeness to the
reformist wing of the government. A government-related site also
claimed that the case against him had nothing to do with spying but
was about “the transfer of leadership.” Whether these internal
power struggles will create a rupture remains to be seen. The bulk of
the ruling class belongs to or is connected to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is far too invested in Iran’s
militarized state capitalist system both economically and
ideologically. However, even Ahmad Tavakkoli, one of the members of
the “Expediency Discernment Council of the System,” which is the
highest body after the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, recently
warned that “The riots of the impoverished are approaching.” In
response to the government’s opposition to a capital gains tax, he
said, “Do not do something that would allow the poor to descend upon
us and dismantle us. [[link removed]]”

At the end of the fourth month of the current uprising in Iran, we can
argue that in comparison to previous uprisings in 2009, 2017-18 and
2019, the degree of working-class participation is greater, and the
ways in which the rights of women and minorities are being raised are
unprecedented. There is agreement among the majority of the Iranian
public that a revolution is needed
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and democratic alternative.

It is extremely difficult, however, to have the debates and
discussions that are needed to articulate and realize a democratic
alternative inside Iran when the repression is so severe and when
feminist, labor, national minority and student leaders continue to
languish in prisons. Imperialist regime change will only make things
worse. Instead, we need a sustained and powerful campaign of
solidarity from feminists around the world to provide education about
what is happening and to send material aid to women’s rights and
labor activists inside Iran. That can in turn strengthen efforts by
imprisoned feminist leaders like Narges Mohammadi, temporarily
released feminist leaders like Nasrin Sotoudeh and other feminist
activists to reach out to Kurdish, Baluch, Arab, Azari, Bahai and
Sunni women to break through ethnic and religious chauvinism and to
promote a progressive, feminist and democratic alternative.

_*In Iran, the __minimum income needed for an urban family of four is
$800 per month_ [[link removed]]_. The __current
minimum wage for a family of four is approximately $150 per month_
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The __global standard for poverty set by the World Bank is $2.15 per
person per day_
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which amounts to approximately $240 per month for a family of four. _

==

Frieda Afary is an Iranian American public librarian, translator,
writer, activist and author of _Socialist Feminism: A New
Approach_ (Pluto Press, 2022)
[[link removed]]. She is
also the producer of _Iranian Progressives in Translation_ 
[[link removed]]and socialistfeminism.org.
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_Copyright © __Truthout [[link removed]]__._ Reprinted
with permission. May not be reprinted without permission.

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____________________________

* Iranian Women's Uprising; Labor Strikes in Support of Iranian
Women;
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