More than a year has passed since the announcement of the Charter of Citizens’ Rights in Iran by the government of Hassan Rouhani. This government is in its first year of its second term and although it is still at the beginning of its term, it is responsible for many economic, social, and political events in the country, taking into account its previous term. It must also be accountable for its performance in the past four years. In fact, considering that most presidents in Iran have served two terms in office, the overall performance of each president and government is the sum of both terms and the terms cannot be separated from each other.

In this charter, which has been more than a year since its proclamation by the government, the workforce and labor rights have also been considered. “The Charter of Citizenship Rights, based on the principles of the nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-eighth, Article 12 of the third principle and Article 33 of the forty-third principle of the Constitution, as well as Article 78 of itself, states that citizens have the right to equal opportunities in access to jobs and free choice of their desired profession according to legal standards in a way that enables them to provide for themselves fairly and honorably. Furthermore, in accordance with Articles 2, 4, 24, and 64 of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan, Article 54 of the Civil Service Law, and Sections 2 and 6 of the General Policies of the Administrative System, having a suitable job is considered a citizenship right and the government must ensure and monitor the conditions for the realization of this right.” (1) This charter considers

Despite the passing of this year, what we see is an increase in workers’ wage delays, their rights being violated, their tables shrinking, and a blow to them. In this past month alone, workers from Haft Tappeh sugar mill to workers in Marivan and Mahabad, Natanaz steel, and the Zanjan-Tehran railway double-track project, as well as Lavan Tablooy Kerman workers, have gone on strike, gathered, protested, and even set themselves on fire, and all have worked to receive their wage delays. They are fighting for their right to fair and just wages that have been promised to them, for food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over their heads, and a life to work more and continue to be delayed in the current economic system of Iran. They want to be exploited and able to work more, to survive!

In the second term of the presidency, we are witnessing Hassan Rouhani’s government. A government that not only lacks an independent policy, but also continues the same neoliberal policies that began in Iran in the 1970s and have resulted in difficulties for workers, accumulation of debts, delays in wages, and their protests. According to reports, capitalists and employers have cited “lack of liquidity and decrease in production” as the reason for these delays in wages. However, in its two proposed bills in the first term, the government did not consider the job security of workers, namely the bills “Exiting Recession” and “Supporting Production,” and has essentially ignored the issue of workers’ rights. Farshad Momeni, an economist and senior advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi (one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement), considers the “Exiting Recession” bill as “one-dimensional and in line with economic moderation policies.” (2) This bill predicts stimulating

It is a Muslim who, with the opening of employers’ hands and the possibility of interpreting the law, brings disasters upon workers by employers. And perhaps the secret of silence in some worker communities about the delay of their wages and salaries can also be understood. The condition of cancellations that can throw the worker into unemployment by the employer’s interpretation of the law and the law’s support for them can add him to the increasing number of unemployed in the country.

In July 2014, the “Supreme Labor Council” approved the proposal of the Minister of Labor to abolish the deduction of insurance fees from workers’ wages. Let us not forget that this Minister of Labor, with his brilliant record in the first term, was also nominated by Hassan Rouhani in the second term and was re-elected, and now he is once again the Minister of Labor in Iran. However, this Minister of Labor has not yet taken office in the new term and is facing impeachment by members of parliament, who have placed him under scrutiny in 26 areas. They were satisfied with the responses of this Minister of Security Cabinet. The requests for impeachment by members of parliament included his mismanagement in the Social Security Organization, as well as the issues of unemployment, people’s livelihoods, and the job market. However, Mr. Rabiei’s record was also full of ambiguities during his vote of confidence for the second term. He has been one of the obstacles in creating an

Furthermore, in this meeting, which was published by the selected news website, it has been emphasized that “all insurance and medical managers in different provinces, and even officials of the Welfare Bank, should justify this issue and follow up with the representatives of the parliament by visiting them in person.” All deputies in their council have also been asked to “take action to increase the trust of representatives as soon as possible and before the start of voting.”

The translation could not be completed as the Farsi text was not provided. Please provide the Farsi text for an accurate translation.
Ali Rabiei – Photo from ISNA

What has been mentioned above is only a part of the illegal activities and broken promises of Ali Rabiei, the brother of Abad. He was responsible for the labor branch of the Islamic Republic Party until 1981. He is a member of the Revolutionary Guards and one of the founders of the Workers’ House, which can be said to have only functioned as a means of elimination and suppression, and has been turned into an illegitimate replacement for independent labor movements. Before and after the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic system, Rabiei was the legal and parliamentary deputy of the Ministry of Intelligence and was also a member of the Supreme National Security Council with President Hassan Rouhani. In other words, in the face of Abad’s brother, we are dealing with a completely security-oriented group that claims to have a labor background, but with its dominance and security past, no one is allowed to get close to him. It should also be noted that Ali Rabiei was a member of

It may not be a bad idea to mention one of the latest security measures of this ministry here. In the early days of December 2017, the wife of one of the imprisoned labor activists, Reza Shahabi, along with a few journalists, labor and civil activists, gathered in front of the Ministry of Labor to protest against the poor conditions of Shahabi, who had suffered two strokes and was in critical physical condition in prison. They wanted to raise awareness about his life being in danger and hopefully find a way to provide medical treatment for this labor activist and prisoner. However, according to witnesses and attendees, individuals from within the ministry came out and attacked and arrested the families. The imprisoned wife was also arrested, along with dozens of others. They were all eventually released, but the question remains: why did the security forces come from within the ministry instead of outside? Has the Ministry of Labor become a security base? Perhaps with this level of security, we can understand why representatives are easily

However, regardless of the security of the minister, it may not be a bad idea for the government to mention another bill. On 1st of May 2015, the bill “Removing Barriers to Competitive Production and Improving the Country’s Financial System” is approved in the parliament. According to reports, Article 41 of this bill has made amendments to the labor law, which not only does not change the status of temporary contracts, but also restricts permanent contracts, which only make up 7% of all contracts. It seems that for the Rouhani government, the issue is not the workforce. The views are strongly anti-union (especially today when labor activists are in prison) and the policies are heavily against workers. Policies that cannot be compensated for with election gestures and directly target the daily lives, security, and livelihood of workers in Iran.

Unfortunately, it seems that in addition to anti-labor policies, gang behaviors have a greater impact on the government’s economic policy than placing individuals based on merit and needs. Only one example can be seen in Ahmad Tavakoli’s letter to Eshaq Jahangiri, the first deputy of Hassan Rouhani, regarding the Minister of Industry and Mines: “Mr. Nematzadeh has once again become active in removing petrochemical products from the commodity exchange, which according to the estimates of the experts of the Parliamentary Research Center, seeks to benefit a few producers in this industry by an annual amount of 1000 billion tomans. Multiple evidence shows that Mr. Nematzadeh is unfortunately an example of the corrupting problem and has preferred personal interests over public interests in many cases. In a public session on December 16, 2015, he admitted to being a member of the board of directors in 19 companies, but claimed that most of these memberships were due

It seems that Ahmad Tavakoli’s transfer in his letter no longer needs to be described and elaborated.

The translation cannot be provided as the Farsi text is missing. Please provide the Farsi text for an accurate translation.
During his election campaign, Hassan Rouhani appeared multiple times among workers – Photo from Tasnim.

During the second round of presidential elections, Hassan Rouhani defended his track record and mentioned points that require closer examination. On International Workers’ Day in 2017, Rouhani stated that “increasing wages above the annual inflation rate was one of the achievements of his government.” However, even Alireza Mahjoub, the Secretary-General of the Workers’ House and a member of parliament, has stated that inflation is not an appropriate measure for determining workers’ wages and that the standard should be the living conditions of workers. This is because inflation reflects the change in prices of a set of goods and services, many of which are not included in the daily basket of workers. According to the Iranian Statistical Center, the average cost of a urban family is more than three times the minimum wage set for workers. This means that the living conditions of workers are constantly deteriorating. This is the real, tangible, and daily life of workers, which cannot be changed by presenting statistics in various meetings. Unfortunately

And all of these, the issue of retirees’ insurance must also be added. The money that has been paid by the workforce over the years and decades, now that the government has not paid the insurance fund, the funds are going bankrupt. Retirees’ salaries are not being adjusted (meaning they have to live on the same salary from years ago with today’s inflation; an impossible situation) and there is no attention given to their insurance status. Meaning, while they were working, they were valued, but now that they have sacrificed their lives for the country by working, even the government and ruling authorities do not care about their well-being.

In the fifth year of Rouhani’s government, it is no longer possible to blame everything on the previous government. Despite its claims, the government is not taking steps towards providing fair and honorable livelihoods for workers in accordance with its own citizens’ rights charter. Furthermore, it appoints a Minister of Security who has no one to oppose or challenge him in his work.

Unfortunately, President Rouhani’s record regarding laborers is full of sorrow as each day more and more difficulties are added to it. Protests by laborers are taking place all over the country and are met with security crackdowns. Labor activists are being arrested and their lives are threatened in prisons. It seems that in the Islamic Republic, whether it is under Rouhani’s or Ahmadinejad’s government, laborers are expected to work to the maximum extent possible, with or without rights, and not protest, but always support those in power. However, laborers also have a limit to their patience, which will eventually overflow one day.

Notes:

1. Ayoubi, Star, Employment Rights in the Mirror of Citizenship Rights, ILNA, September 16, 2017.

2. The undesirable record of Rouhani’s government in the field of workers’ rights, Kalameh website, October 4, 2015.

3. Investigation of Rabiei’s Impeachment in Parliament, Tomorrow, 3 Dey Month 1396.

4. The council was once again satisfied with Rabii’s responses, on the website of Tadbir va Omide, 5th of Dey month, 1396.

5. The insulting actions of the Social Security Organization to gain Rabei’s vote of confidence in the parliament, election, August 7th, 2017.

6. Four-year record of the presidency of Hassan Rouhani – From promise to action, Voice of America website, last page, 11 Ordibehesht month 1396.