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To
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
To labour
organisations around the world
We are writing to inform you that we the workers of Alumin
Radiator in the city of Sanandaj have now been on strike for
over two weeks in protest at the dismissal of our colleagues.
Recently the management, with the approval of the Labour
Ministry, split up the factory into smaller sections, i.e.
workshops of under 10 employees, in order that the workers would
no longer be covered by the Labour Law. With this ploy, the
employers have given themselves a free hand in firing workers
and denying them any rights and benefits under the Labour Law.
Since the introduction of this plan in March 2005, 55 workers
have lost their jobs. At the same time, workers on permanent
contracts have been pressurised to sign temporary contracts. In
Iran temporary contracts are equivalent to workers’ total
slavery.
These pressures have had a direct impact on our work, with the
result that on two days in a row we have had two tragic
accidents in the factory. On 22nd April one of our
colleagues, Jamshid Parkanian, who has worked in the company for
17 years, was forced to go on temporary contract. Under such
pressures and due to lack of workplace safety, on the same day
his left hand was caught in the machine and he lost four of his
fingers. Neither the employer nor the state is even prepared to
pay for his medical treatment. This is another example of their
callous behaviour and the workers’ lot in this society!
Also on 23 April, four workers, Ali Abbasi, Mozaffar Aslani and
Mohammad Mohammadi, each with 14 years’ work experience, as well
as Sedigh Abbasi, with 17 years’ work experience, were dismissed
for refusing to go on temporary contracts.
We have taken strike action in response to these pressures and
are demanding the return of our dismissed colleagues and an end
to the expulsions. However, the management has not heeded our
demands and is putting pressure on us to end the strike. We
should also remind you that in this country we have neither the
right to strike nor the right to organise.
We are writing to inform you of our situation and request your
support for our just demands:
1-
a safe workplace and payment of damages to our colleague Jamshid
Parkanian for the loss of the four fingers of his hand;
2-
machines below safety standards should be pulled out of service;
3-
expulsions should be stopped and our dismissed colleagues should
be allowed back to work;
4-
pressures to force the employees to sign temporary contracts
must stop; we also demand that workers on temporary contracts be
put on permanent contracts;
5-
equal rights and benefits for permanent and contract workers
alike.
We will continue our protest, and will not give in to pressures.
We urgently need your support. Your support will help us in a
big way to achieve our demands. We request that you make our
voice of protest heard around the world, condemn these pressures
and support us.
Workers of Alumin Radiator,
Sanandaj,
May 14, 2005
Signed:
1-
Ali Abbasi
2-
Hossein Miraki
3-
Fattollah Zahedi
4-
Mozaffar Aslani
5-
Ramin Ghorbeiee
6-
Jamshid Parkanian
7-
Bayazid Ghasemi
8-
Mohammad Mohammadi
9-
Sedigh Abbasi
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