IWW Education Workers’ Industrial Union – International

From www.labourstart.org
Monday 16 April 2007

Teachers in Iran were on a nationwide strike today for the second day
running.

Called by the Teachers’ Trade Association of Iran (Kanoon e Senfi e
Moalleman e Iran), the strike followed last month’s massive protests over pay and conditions, which ended in the arrest of hundreds of teachers as the security forces moved in to crush the action.

Labour organisations around the world and various sections of workers in Iran have protested at the regime’s brutality, calling for the release of those still in prison and the meeting of teachers’ legitimate demands.

In Sunday’s and Monday’s actions nearly all the schools in Tehran remained closed. Secondary schools were reported shut, while some primary schools remained open but no teaching took place.

In addition to the capital, the strike was observed in the following cities and regions: Esfahan, Homayoon-Shahr, Shahin-Shahr, Flaverjan, Pirbekran, Bojnoord, Eslam-Shahr, Shazand, Khomein, Arak, Tafresh, Farahan, Delijan, Karaj, Saghez, Bookan, Hamedan, Aligoodarz, Ardebil, Kerman, Urumiye, Tabriz and Broojen.

In Eslam-Shahr teachers were threatened. They were told not to assemble in the school.

In another development, 5 of the 9 detained teachers in the city of Hamedan, members of the Teachers’ Trade Association, were released after nearly 10 days in prison. They are: Jalilian, Foroozanfar, Sadeghi, Naderi and Najafi. The following are still in prison: Zareiee, Ghadimi, Refahiat and Gholami.

In Homayoon-Shahr in Esfahan Province, 4 teachers were summoned to the Information Ministry and detained. They are: Mojtaba Abtahi, Abdolrasool Emaadi, Nurullah Barkhordar and Hamid Mojizi. Their whereabouts are unknown.

In the city of Kerman, the city’s education chief accused the teachers of ‘conspiracy against the system’, following which several teachers were arrested. On Saturday 14 April, Hamid Pour Vosoogh, Alireza Rezaiee and Mohammad Reza Rezaiee were arrested and taken to Evin Prison in Tehran.

The teachers’ two-day action was pre-planned and went ahead in spite of the mass arrests, harassment and intimidation by the government. There is already talk amongst teachers of further actions in the coming days.

The authorities in Iran have arrested up to 1,000 teachers in a brutal crackdown that signals their determination to break a pay revolt.Riot police beat demonstrators with batons as they tried to gather outside Iran’s parliament and education ministry and herded them into police vans and buses before transporting them to detention centres across Tehran.

Around 150 of those arrested in Wednesday’s protest are still in custody, with the ringleaders believed to be in the capital’s notorious Evin prison. Others were released after signing a commitment not to participate in “illegal” demonstrations.

The clampdown follows recent rallies outside parliament, which drew up to 10,000 demonstrators, many of whom displayed banners criticising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government as part of their campaign for higher pay. An average university-educated secondary-school teacher earns £160-180 a month, below the poverty line and much less than workers in other government sectors.

Last week, police arrested six teachers’ union leaders in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a gathering that coincided with a planned women’s rights demonstration.

Robert Tait in Tehran, The Guardian, Saturday March 17, 2007
www.guardian.co.uk

By Joseph K - http://libcom.org  

On Monday 5th March, about 100,000 teachers went on strike. On 8th March 10,000 teachers staged a picket outside the Parliament building in Tehran demanding justice and better wages.

According to the Organisation for Womens’ Liberation, “all along the regime has refused to meet their demands. On 8th March (International Women’s Day), many students and the women’s movement showed their solidarity with the teachers. Many 8th march leaflets were distributed among the demonstrators. There were talks among the demonstrators to join the 8th March demonstration by Tehran University .

On Monday 5th March, several thousand factory workers also joined the teachers to demand their unpaid wages. Many workers’ committees have issued 8th March messages to commemorate International Women’s Day.”

The strike is reportedly the biggest industrial dispute in Iran in recent years, with schools forced to close nationwide. Teachers said the strike had not been orchestrated by any labour organisation but had caught on by word of mouth. Labour unions are typically weak and disorganised in Iran.

More information:
Background on the recent upsurge in class struggle in Iran is contained in an article by the Aufheben journal (pdf file) on the http://libcom.org site.