Islamic Republic labour policies 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 calls 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 Iranian labour organizations are calling for: freedom of independent labour assembly; the right to strike and demonstrate; freedom for all political parties; freedom of speech and free media; wages determined by real worker representatives; job security and the payment of all delayed wages.
The statement also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all jailed labour activists as well as prisoners from other social movements, an end to all discriminatory laws against women, and establishment of complete equality between genders, a guarantee of adequate incomes for all retirees, an end to child labour and to all discrimination against Afghan immigrant workers and all other nationalities.
The Iranian labour organizations also want May Day to become a national holiday and they are demanding an end to restrictions on celebrating the day. They also voice support for the struggles and popular protests in the Middle East and express their appreciation for international support extended to labour struggles in Iran.
source: Radio Zamaneh
Fatemeh Maleki, the wife of detained Iranian journalist Mohammad Nourizad, has expressed grave concern for her husband, who has been on hunger strike since last month.
Maleki reports that her husband is also refusing any visits or telephone calls. Nourizad began a hunger strike last month to protest his being held under solitary confinement as well as the sentences he faces.
"I will refuse food, telephone contacts, visits or furloughs until my demands are met. I protest against all the sentences issued against me. I will continue this path until I get a result and everything that happens to me will be the responsibility of those who have issued sentences against me and have a role in keeping me imprisoned in Ward 2A," Nourizad wrote in a letter addressed to Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, Tehran's Prosecutor.
He writes: "Keeping me in Ward 2A is illegal, and I must be transferred to the General Ward 350."
Nourizad was arrested in December of 2009 charged with "insulting officials and propaganda against the regime." He is sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison and 50 lashes.
Nourizad was convicted for writing a series of critical letters to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei for his role in crushing the post-election protests of 2009.
source: Radio Zamaneh
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has missed a second cabinet meeting since his dispute with the Supreme Leader over the contested resignation of minister of intelligence Heydar Moslehi.
Fars news agency reports that yesterday’s cabinet meeting was once again held by vice-president Mohammadreza Rahimi and the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi was present.
In addition, Mehr News Agency reported that the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution was also convened without Ahmadinejad, who heads the council. The meeting was chaired by Ali Larijani, speaker of the parliament.
Ahmadinejad has been avoiding his official duties following the dispute over Moslehi's resignation as Minister of Intelligence. After Ahmadinejad had accepted Moslehi's resignation, Ayatollah Khamenei overruled the president's decision and reinstated Moslehi as the head of intelligence ministry.
Furthermore, Qom's representative in parliament has told Khabar-on-line that the cabinet's planned trip to Qom – one in a series of provincial trips for the cabinet and president – has also been cancelled.
Jaras opposition website cites "knowledgeable sources" who say Ahmadinejad told some Tehran City Council members at a recent meeting that he is fed up with the current situation.
He has reportedly said that following the assassination attempts on Iranian nuclear scientists, he had intended to dismiss his ministers of defence, interior and intelligence, but he put that plan on hold in hope that the situation would improve. According to this report, when council members urged him to return to cabinet meetings, Ahmadinejad responded: "How can you ask me for more patience? My authority in the government is basically limited to selecting and changing ministers; this has also been taken away from me."
Some conservative members of the Islamic Republic establishment have accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of disobeying the orders of the Supreme Leader. However, Ayatollah Khamenei has said his differences with Ahmadinejad are minor disputes of no importance.
source: Radio Zamaneh
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