There have been protests across Iran this week related to labor issues. Protests showing how desperate people are that they would gather for protests during a pandemic.

Labor Protests in Haft Tappeh and other cities

On Tuesday, Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers in Shush, Khuzestan province, restarted their protests over poor working conditions, delayed wages, and unstable contracts.

During a previous protest on October 29, labor activists gathered in front of the management office of Haft Tappeh, the biggest agricultural complex in Iran, and four workers were arrested by State Security Forces. Their colleagues are demanding their immediate release.

On Monday, Freight and Passenger Transportation Organization workers in Yasuj, southeast Iran, protested paychecks delayed by eight months. This protest has been going on for several days. But the Yasuj Municipality and Yasuj City Council do not appear to be listening, according to one worker who said, that they “are facing negligence of city officials pursuing our demands.”

Meanwhile, residents in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, protested outside the Governor’s Office in Sanandaj over the limbo status of the ownership of their lands in the “Bagh Khan” neighbourhood.

They said that for several years the municipality has refused to let them build on the land that they have bought and paid for, so they will continue this rally until their demands are fully met.

At the same time in Basht, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province, merchants gathered to protest the high rent for shops, especially with the opening of the “Farhangian Tadbir Mandegar commercial complex”, which is bizarrely owned by the Ministry of Education and is expected to increase the rent, which shopkeepers won’t be able to afford.

What the labors want

One young protester said: “I currently pay about 6 million rials for the shop and due to the bad economic situation and the purchasing power of the people, I can hardly pay this rent.”

Also on Monday, experienced workers at the petroleum desalination company in Haftkel, Khuzestan province. Haftkel has 45 active oil wells, rallied outside the governor’s office to protest their dismissal and demand officials resolve the ongoing issues.

One worker said: “I and many of the workers who have been worked from the beginning of the project until its opening, our only demand is to return to work.”

Another said: “We had a hard time getting a job at this company, and we lost a lot of job opportunities, and in 2017 when the desalination project opened, most of us were fired.”