Workers of Ahwaz Pipe Mills protest non-payment of wages

200 workers of Pipe-making factory in city of Ahwaz (Ahwaz Pipe Mills) held a protest in front of the governor office on February 9, 2009. Workers demanded the payment of their wages which have not been paid for the past four months. The Pipe-making factory is part of the Ahwaz Rolling and Pipe Mills Co. (ARPCO). About 750 employees work at the factory but they have ongoing issues with overdue wages and mandatory vacations and other work related issues. Workers vowed to continue with their protests until their demands are met.

Taha Azadi Summoned to court again!

Taha Azadi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Free Union of Workers in Iran has been summoned to court for the second time. Mr. Azadi is expected to appear in court on February 16, 2009. He is charged with propaganda against the system. Mr. Azadi, along with Mr. Javanmir Moradi, were arrested in May for participating in May Day event and spent 47 days in prison and endured physical and emotional torture. Taha Azadi and Javanmir Moradi, both member of board of directors of Free Union of Workers in Iran, were released on a $10,000 bail. They were arrested in Asalooyeh - Booshehr on May Day and were jailed for 47 days.

The Continued Imprisonment of Mohsen Hakimi

Mohsen Hakimi who has been and is still in solitary confinement for more than fifty days in Ward 209 in Evin Prison (Iran), during a phone call home from jail, stated that he is still in solitary confinement and under interrogation. During the call home, he emphasized that many times he told those in charge at the jail as well as his interrogator that there is absolutely no justification in keepinghim in solitary confinement and in prison. For all this time, he has been protesting his detention and treatment. During these fifty days, he was prevented from visits with his family as well as having his demand to have books and newspapers rejected.
Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organization
February 11, 2009
http://www.hamaahangi.com

Three labour activists in Marivan arrested !

According to the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, at 2 AM on February 07, 2009, the security agents in city of Marivan in Kurdistan Province raided the residences of Salam Ghaderi and Khaled Asadi, both labour activists and members of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations. They arrested Ghaderi and Asadi and taken them to an undisclosed location. Also, Mr. Azad Hosseini, a labour activist in city of Marivan, was arrested

ITF condemns continuing crackdown on Iran’s independent workers’ movement!

The ITF is backing a campaign by a fellow global union federation to clear five union leaders in Iran who were arrested for standing up for workers’ rights. A verdict is due to be delivered next week.The trade unionists, representing thousands of sugar cane workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Plantation and Industry Company in Shush were summoned to appear before the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Defzul on 20 December last year. The leaders of the Union of Workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Plantation – Ali Nejati, Feridoun Nikoufard, Mohammed Heydari Mehr, Ghorban Alipour, Jalil Ahmadi – were arrested and charged in connection with actions taken by workers in 2007 over unpaid wages and in defence of basic workplace rights. The court verdict is expected to be delivered on 17 February.The union is a member of the global union federation, the International Union of Food (IUF), and the International Trade Union Confederation, both of which are lobbying for a “not guilty” verdict. The ITF is supporting the campaign and backing the emergence of an independent workers’ movement in Iran, of which the ITF-affiliated Tehran Bus Workers’ Union is a part; the leaders of the union, Mansour Osanloo and and Ebrahim Madadi, remain in detention.ITF Inland Transport Section Secretary, Mac Urata, commented: “The ITF is fully behind the IUF and the sugar cane plantation trade unionists. These arrests clearly show that an independent workers' movement is growing in Iran, which is why the authorities are taking measures to crackdown on trade unionists. Our colleagues from the Tehran Bus Union are not an isolated case."