President Hassan Rouhani’s government approved the first program related to the working and living conditions of Iranian workers while including a series of economic and livelihood slogans in its advertising campaigns to attract public attention. These programs, which initially seemed to present a brighter future for wage earners and were based on their real demands, were in contrast to the slogans of Ahmadinejad’s government. However, regardless of the level of these programs’ slogans and their alignment with the government’s economic team, it was predictable that strict programs would be implemented for the general public and especially for the working class, in order to align the Islamic Republic’s economy more closely with the programs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In late last year, the Supreme Labor Council announced a 25% increase in the minimum wage for workers in 2014, amounting to 680,000 tomans, while the latest inflation rate reported by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic was 36.7%.

Despite this, some economists, considering the overall changes and developments in the economy during Hassan Rouhani’s government, have not recognized this inflation rate as real and have warned against its rise. Hossein Raghefar is one of these economists who, by criticizing the current economic policy, has warned against a 40% inflation rate in 2014 and, considering the increase in energy carrier prices, says: “The effects of this price increase will directly affect household and economic costs; therefore, this price increase will definitely lead to inflation. In my opinion, the budget inflation for next year will be higher than this year and last year; inflation in the next year will be at least 40%.”

Fariborz Raeisi Dana, an economist, wrote on the verge of the year 1393 and in analyzing the current situation and predicting the economic status of workers in Rouhani’s government: “The Rouhani government in 1393 does not have practical policies that will shed light of hope on the homes of working classes, especially the bottom 60-70% and the destitute urban dwellers. Their situation will worsen, considering the expected minimum wage. The Rouhani government “can” pay up to 42,500 billion tomans in cash and non-cash subsidies, but it is not “obligated” to do so. Please note that if all 75 million Iranians receive subsidies, the amount in 1393 will be equivalent to 39,600 billion tomans, which is even less than the maximum predicted amount of 42,500 billion tomans. But the government must save up to 59,300 billion tomans in subsidies for bread

Do not be surprised that a new wave of price increases has been announced in the year ninety-three. The increase of over one hundred percent in the price of liquefied gas, one hundred percent increase in the price of white oil, twenty-five percent increase in the price of electricity, twenty percent increase in the price of water, and efforts to increase the price of gasoline are among the most important and fundamental price changes in the current year. As a result of these changes, urban transportation fares have also increased by twenty-five percent, and serious efforts have been made to increase the price of bread multiple times.

A government expert on labor issues regarding the possibility of an increase in bread prices says: “Considering the decrease in purchasing power of workers, if the price of bread changes, even though there is no alternative food item, we should expect a gradual decrease of bread from the tables of wage earners. If bread, like meat, fruits, and vegetables, is also removed from the tables of workers, there is no other item available to replace it.” (4)

In this regard, Jom Jom Sera magazine, a subsidiary of Jom Jom News Agency, has reviewed a wide range of consumer goods and food items in the new year, all of which have been subject to price increases.

The labor union writes in this regard: “Unfortunately, we witnessed last year that despite the official announcement of a 31.5% inflation rate, the Supreme Labor Council of the country approved a 25% increase in minimum wages and salaries for this year, which was a stab in the back for the working class community. This is because field research, market analysis, and gathering necessary information and statistics from official sources, as well as comparing the prices of goods and services and the cost of living for a working family compared to the same period last year, clearly showed a growth of over 50% and almost doubling of prices for these items compared to the declared inflation rate by the country’s official authorities.”

In 1992, the increase in wages was approximately 25%, and with a salary of 487,000 tomans, the purchasing power of wage earners did not exceed 117,000 tomans.

The minimum wage for the year 2013 was announced to be equivalent to 487,000 tomans, but calculating this minimum wage based on the purchasing power of the minimum wage in 2004 (calculating salaries at a fixed price based on the base year of 2004) shows that the purchasing power of this amount will be around 117,000 tomans. In simpler terms, during the years 2004 to 2013, the value of the national currency has decreased by one fourth, while the purchasing power of wage earners in 2013 has only increased by 11,000 tomans compared to 2004.

The Workers’ Union of the Tehran Unified Company, while protesting against the decisions made regarding the wages for the year 1993, states in their recent announcement: “According to official government statistics, the inflation rate in 2012 and 2013 has swallowed up more than seventy percent of the purchasing power of workers, laborers, and other wage earners. Meanwhile, the monster of inflation in 2014 will twist the standard of living of workers even more, as the increase in workers’ wages for 2014 is still 10-15 percent below the inflation line, meaning an increase in poverty and misery in the lives of workers.”

According to the estimates of many experts, considering the existence of extreme poverty line of over two million and five hundred thousand tomans in Tehran in 2013, with such extensive changes in price liberalization and movement towards creating transformations in cash subsidies, we cannot expect anything but poverty and economic oppression for the working class in Iran.

The Rouhani government will not only give the least opportunity to revive organizations and labor unions, but as expected, by appointing a security figure as the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, in the first few months of the government’s work, it has intensified the crackdown on labor and union activists. Contrary to the hypocritical slogans of moderation and dialogue, the minimum right to be heard for workers and their real representatives is not recognized, imprisoned workers are subject to new punishments, and organizers of strikes and protests have been arrested and threatened.

In addition to this, the approval of the 93rd year’s salary, which has taken into account the demands of capitalists and employers more than anything else, reveals the class nature of the government more than ever. The government of Hassan Rouhani and his economic team are seeking to carry out the most severe systematic suppression of the working class and to pave the way for the realization of neoliberal economic policies. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the 93rd year’s budget, we will witness an upward trend in cash assistance to security and military institutions. In fact, the government has not only fattened the private sector and the economic mafia, but has also strengthened the tools of suppression in order to complete the process of turning Iran into a laboratory for exploitative policies.

This year can be a special moment in the life of the working class; especially since efforts have begun to adjust and cut cash subsidies, causing increased anxiety in the daily lives of workers. The minimum wage of ninety-three and its ratio to inflation and the government’s harsh and ruthless policies can lead millions of families to extreme poverty and deprive them of their most basic rights. If we consider the year 2009 as a year of suppressing political and civil demands, the year ninety-three can be a year of an iron-fisted economy that has taken its toll on the bodies and souls of the oppressed and hardworking.

The salary and wages scale for the year 2014, Iran Employment, 14 March 2014.

2- Warning about 40% inflation in 1393 (2014), Jam Jam Online, 2 February 2014

3- In the year 93, workers started their blog in Iran, on February 14, 2014.

The living conditions of workers have become more serious with the increase in the price of bread, Sarnews, April 1, 2014.

The purchasing power of 117,000 tomans minimum wage in 2013, Khabar Online, February 11, 2013.