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Mohammad Safavi

A combination of non-democratic economic policies and various security measures against workers who strive to improve working conditions has turned the structure and institution of labor in our country into an oppressive entity. This is happening while, without considering the basic rights of workers, the owners of power rely on the slogan of “economic development”.

In this faulty structure, according to various statistics and reports, the work environment is considered to be one of the most unsafe and deadly work environments in our country, employing millions of construction workers. Multiple reports show that in the past decade, with the expansion of various social, cultural, economic, and environmental crises and crises in the field of work, more than 90% of the workforce has been excluded from the coverage of protective labor laws. The gradual removal of protective labor laws, along with unemployment and a decrease in wages below the poverty line or close to the death line, has led millions of construction workers to risk their lives in order to escape unemployment and hunger. The Statistical Office of the Social Security Organization has reported an increase in occupational accidents, stating: “Along with inflation, high prices, unemployment, and a decrease in food security and health, we are facing a significant increase in work accidents up to 100%.” (1) According to government statistics, which do not reflect the true

In such conditions, the demand for workers’ insurance for construction workers, which has been raised by the labor movement of Iran since the time of the Constitutional Revolution, is still facing serious obstacles from those in power and employers. In 2007, after much effort by construction workers and when the number of deaths and injuries among them reached a critical level, and workers lost their lives in poverty and misery due to work-related injuries, the insurance for construction workers was finally approved by the parliament with unprecedented delay. However, this decision was opposed by the Guardian Council and some employers and government institutions, under the pretext that it would increase the cost of labor for high-income employers, and it was aborted in the same parliament.

Now, after a decade, the mortality rate of workers has doubled, the Islamic Consultative Assembly has passed a new insurance law for construction workers, which has been delayed unnecessarily, resulting in the premature death of thousands of workers due to lack of insurance. However, the details of this law remain unclear and it only covers a portion of construction workers, leaving many without protection and support.

On December 17, 2015, in a government conference titled “National Conference of Construction Workers” held in the city of Qom with the presence of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Ali Larijani, “expressed his happiness that with the approval of the Construction Workers Insurance Law, more than one million of these workers have been insured throughout the country.” (5) This is while nearly two million construction workers, who have about six million family members, are employed in the country. The question is why all construction workers and their families are not covered by construction workers’ insurance? Unfortunately, in this conference, Ali Larijani, in line with the discriminatory and anti-human rights desires of government officials, announced that not only a large number of workers, including immigrant and refugee workers, are not covered by this insurance, but also expressed hope that “foreigners would not be working in our country” with a discriminatory attitude.

Despite such discriminatory and racist policies of the government, unfortunately the working conditions of Iranian workers in the oppressive institution of labor will not improve, especially the working conditions of construction workers. In this regard, the pursuit of absolute injustice and the lack of independent labor organizations and the lack of the right to strike to improve working conditions will lead to the death and injury of workers – especially the victimization of migrant and refugee workers who are among the most deprived layers of the Iranian working class – due to accidents and occupational diseases. Hopefully, this will not be the case!

Resources.

ILNA News Agency, April 2014.

2- Forensic Doctor’s Website, February 2011.

3- ILNA News Agency, 11 December 2015.

4- People’s Salar Newspaper, October 2007.

5- ILNA News Agency, 26 December 2015.