Tudeh Party of Iran: Victory to the Industrial Action by Steelworkers at the Iran National Steel Group in Ahvaz, and Sugarcane Workers at Haft Tappeh
Workers at the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Complex, and at the Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSG) in Ahvaz, have once again gone on strike in the past few days. The sugarcane mill workers’ action is in solidarity with their co-workers in the animal feed and sugarcane harvest section who have been laid off. The strike involves various sections of this huge production plant from the engineering divisions through to the security and facilities departments.
The Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers’ demands include; payment of delayed and due wages and salaries; job security; an end to privatisation; and the safeguarding of sugarcane farms from the Free Trade Zone expansion plans. These Free Trade Zone expansion plans involve dividing up the farmlands and authorising their “change of use”, leading to the closure of the mill and job losses for hundreds of workers.
At the same time, workers at the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz organised a walkout with a well-organised gathering in front of the National Bank in Ahvaz on the second day, in which the number of protesting women was both promising and significant. The workers of this large manufacturing plant demand the full payment of all their late wages, without exception, and the resumption of the supply of raw materials and operation of production lines for the continuation of production, thereby safeguarding their employment.
In both strikes, demands for the revival of trade union rights and for the workers participation in the process of production, demonstrate growth of workers’ awareness in the current critical period. These strikes further highlight the importance of organising the currently scattered workers’ protests. We must move forward through united actions [of all those concerned with workers’ rights] to organise such workers’ struggles.
The Tudeh Party of Iran, the party of the Iranian working class, resolutely supports the strikes by the steelworkers in Ahvaz and the sugarcane workers at Haft Tappeh and calls on all patriotic forces of Iran to join in doing so. The demands of these workers are legitimate and righteous and must therefore be realised.
Let us move forward towards nationwide united action, to raise the level of organisation and solidarity for the purpose of linking these scattered protests and strikes to fight the ruling theocratic autocracy!
Workers and progressive forces, support the struggle and strike actions of the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Complex and the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz!
Engaging in strike action is the inalienable right of all workers.
The Tudeh Party of Iran
Wednesday 22 August 2018
