Over the past three days, bitter and shocking reports of death, injury, harsh working conditions, economic repression, and widespread lack of rights have painted a stark picture of the condition of workers and wage earners in Iran. This picture shows that the government and employers, indifferent to the lives and livelihoods of millions, continue to beat the drum of exploitation and repression.
Deaths and workplace accidents:
Parviz Reysi, a lineman at the Makran Steel project in Chabahar, lost his life due to electrocution and falling from a height. In Torghabeh, the collapse of a construction pit killed a building worker. At the Nowsud border, Payam, a kolbar from Ravansar, lost a limb after a landmine explosion. In Rask, a 17-year-old fuel carrier named Belal died in a vehicle overturn, while his peer, Benyamin, was injured.
Economic repression, arrests, and wage delays:
About 400 overhaul workers at Assaluyeh’s seventh refinery have not received their wages three months after completing their jobs and are threatened with being “blacklisted.” Municipal workers in Marivan saw several million tomans deducted from their monthly pay with no clear explanation. Retirees from the University of Medical Sciences are still waiting for their legal back pay, receiving nothing but empty promises. Two workers from Razi Petrochemical, Ahmad Asakareh and Ahmad Rashdi, remain detained in the Intelligence Office of Mahshahr after earlier arrests.
Unsafe working conditions and severe exploitation:
At Makran Steel, the absence of safety equipment and timely rescue led to a worker’s death. Kolbars and fuel carriers continue to fall victim to mines, shootings, accidents, and fires. Construction workers in both small and large projects work without any real guarantees against deadly accidents. Telecom employees in Tehran, along with oil workers in Siri, Ilam, and Nasr, are also struggling with wage and job-related problems.
Root causes and the need for collective response:
These events repeat the same reality: the absence of independent workers’ organizations, and the dominance of contractors, employers, and the government itself—as the largest employer and policymaker—create the ground for constant assaults on workers’ lives and livelihoods. From months-long delays in wages and holding salaries hostage, to unsafe workplaces, arrests of activists, and threats against protesting workers, all are parts of an organized system of exploitation and repression.
The only way to confront this situation lies in independent organization, the creation of real councils and unions, and collective action to defend the right to life, job security, and human dignity.
Prepared by Pezhvak-e Kar Iran (Echo of Iran’s Labor).
