Open letter to international trade unions and labour organisations
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Iran,
Sanandaj: factory put under siege
as
strike by hundreds of textile workers enters its fourth day
Wednesday,
November 3, 2004
Dear Friends:
I am writing to let you know that the Kurdistan
Textile factory in the city of Sanandaj, Iran, where hundreds of workers are on
a sit-in strike, has come under siege by armed security forces, who have
surrounded the factory and cut off all links with the outside. Anxious relatives and crowds have gathered
outside the factory gates demanding access to those inside and the lifting of
the siege.
The sit-in, which started on Sunday 31st
October initially as a hunger strike by 75 workers, has since been joined by
hundreds of others from all sections of the plant. The workers of two other textile plants in the city (Shaho and
Shinbaf), as well as the bakery workers union and various sections of people,
have declared their support for the strike.
Five workers who needed medical attention yesterday due to the effects
of the hunger strike, have now been released from hospital. To avoid further harm to the health of those
involved in the protest, the workers have decided to call off their hunger
strike. A special fund has also been
set up to raise urgently needed funds.
The striking workers have appealed to international
trade unions for support.
The sit-in is in protest against the mass redundancy
plans announced by the management. The
workers are calling for the withdrawal of the redundancy threat or a fair
redundancy settlement.
Your support has been instrumental on many occasions
in preventing persecution of workers in Iran for exercising their basic rights
to assembly, strike and collective bargaining.
The worldwide outrage expressed at the arrest of workers in the city of
Saghez for celebrating May Day and the continued international pressures have
forced the Islamic regime in Iran to all but abandon its attempts to put those
workers on trial. Your solidarity is
once again needed to stop the current assault on the rights, livelihood and
safety of workers engaged in a legitimate dispute with the management over
jobs. Your support is urgently needed
to put an end to this flagrant intimidation of workers by the military, for the
immediate lifting of the siege and the withdrawal of the security forces from
the factory premises.
We will keep you informed of any further
developments as we receive them. Please
do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information in
this regard.
Yours in solidarity,
Kazem Nik-Khah
Secretary, Worker-communist Party of Iran –
Committee Abroad
k.nikkhah@ukonline.co.uk
0044 – 7876738119