19.09.2007
Fasts and exploitation
A group of workers in Iran Khodro, the country's largest car plant, issued this statement on September 17
Friends and fellow workers:
Sharivar 22 [September 13] is the anniversary of the death of our fellow worker, Peyman Razilou. On that day in 2002 he died from exhaustion during the afternoon shift.
His death was four years ago and we haven't forgotten that tragedy - or the untimely death of our colleague, Mahmood Khayami, who died from stress. And this year we have witnessed another death - this time it was Ali Akbar Shourgashti who was killed because Iranian capitalists pay no attention to health and safety regulations.
In 2002 Peyman Razilou died while working on the Peugeot car assembly line. Peyman was an energetic young worker who had come to work in Iran Khodro. Like many other contract employees of this company he used to work three consecutive shifts - that is, more than 11 hours a day, in the hope that one day he would get a full-time job in this factory. However, harsh working conditions killed Peyman, along with a number of his fellow workers.
Contract companies have expanded, full-time employment does not exist any more, work environments are not only more dangerous, but tens of workers have lost their lives at work, while tens of others have been incapacitated because of accidents.
As inflation is rising every day, our real wages are falling, while many benefits are being cut. Production is rising, but we do not benefit from what is exported. Today full-time employment in this factory is just a dream.
Friends and fellow workers, if Peyman lost his life due to excessive work, if Omid Oladi died under harsh working conditions and if today tens of workers are injured and incapable of working or if they have lost their lives, it is because the company fails to adhere to most basic forms of health and safety at work. After all these incidents are there any improvement in working conditions? Do workers earn better wages? The answer to these questions is negative.
The month of Ramadan has arrived and for us workers this means nothing but more misery and trouble in the workplace. We have to work the agreed 10-hour day, yet by cutting out the time for meal breaks during Ramadan management has increased our working hours, with no extra pay.
While the government is shouting from the rooftops that working hours will be reduced during Ramadan, we have not only failed to see any such reduction, but by cutting out our meal break management has seen to it our working day is actually longer. According to the latest announcements from Iran Khodro, the production shops will start up at 6.45am instead of 6.55am and the early shift will end at 5.45pm. As you can see, the shift is longer, especially as the morning breakfast break is also abolished. Friends, why is it that we have to work with no breaks during Ramadan?
Many of our fellow workers cannot tolerate these conditions. Some are ill, while others will become ill if they don't eat regularly. What are they supposed to do? The forces of the harassat [factory religious police] watch us like hawks. Even if we avoid them, members of the islamic council don't allow us any peace.
The only place where workers can eat in peace are the toilets. Every day the floor of the factory toilets are covered in crumbs, as workers have no option but to eat there. Why should we face such conditions, just because there are no private facilities that workers can use to eat a piece of bread? Isn't it a disgrace that the leader of the harassat has announced that if a worker is ill and so needs to eat during Ramadan they should use 'private rooms'? Is there no-one to tell this man that the factory has no such rooms? How can these people answer us, who consider themselves muslim, yet put the price of bread above the price of religion and the Koran?
In the next few days we will walk out unless management respond to the following demands:
1. Working hours must be reduced. A 12-hour working day (the bus collects workers at 5.30 am and leaves the factory at 5.30pm) with no food or drink in hot weather is unbearable.
2. Management must leave the refectory open and allow those who cannot fast during Ramadan access to cold prepared food.
3. The forces of the harassat and islamic societies should not be allowed to search workers in their attempt to find food.
4. We do not accept the company's reasons for failing to reduce working hours during Ramadan. It is the beginning of the school year and we have to pay our children's fees. Most of us have serious debts and more than 70% of our income goes straight to the banks. Workers can't live on such low wages - most of us have relied on overtime, but that is no longer available. We demand that managers reinstate overtime at decent rates of pay.
We are commemorating our fallen fellow workers, Peyman and Omid, and all those who lost their lives due to poor working conditions. We also value the memory of fellow workers Ali Shour Gashti and Massoud Khaiyami, who lost their lives during this summer. We demand the immediate release of workers in prison, Mahmoud Salehi and Mansour Ossanlou, as well all incarcerated workers and political prisoners.
We strongly condemn the execution of young innocent individuals and call for the abolition of the death penalty and torture.