Islamic Republic labour polices and the removal of government subsidies for energy and food staples is making it hard for Iranian workers to make ends meet, labour organizations say.
In a joint statement issued to mark International Workers Day, seven Iranian labour organizations wrote that they are deprived of every right to organize and demonstrate and are “consistently under severe attacks against our lives and livelihood.”
The statement call for the return of the subsidies, highlighting the adverse effects of their removal, which they claim has put further pressure on the “lives and livelihoods of millions of workers and their families.”
The groups describe the workers’ challenges like this: “Tremendous increases in energy prices and the subsequent closure of factories, add hundreds and thousands of workers to the ranks of the unemployed, even as unemployment insurance is cut and the price of food staples surges.”
