Thousands of workers at the Iran Khodro Car Manufacturing Company have been on strike. The protest began in the form of a hunger strike on June 28, 2008 and since then it expanded across the company and thousands of workers have jointed protests and strike actions since then. Workers demands include:

– Freedom of labour organizations and prohibition of entry by the security guards to the workstations.

– End to mandatory over-time

– Increases to the productivity benefits

– Wage increased according to the increases to the cost of living

– And end to temporary contracts and hiring of workers on a permanent basis

– Stop the expansion of subcontracting companies; all workers should be under the Iran Khodro

– Participation of workers’ representatives in decision making committees on job classifications

– Participation of workers’ representatives at the hard and hazardous work committee

– Reduce work pressures through hiring new employees.

The company has been imposing harsh working conditions on employees through the use of contractors and temp agencies and violation of basic rights such as the right to organize as well as forced overtime work. Many workers have been hired on temporary contracts for over 10 years. After workers went on strike, the company issued a statement in which they threatened workers that the strike was called following the agitation of “banned” leftist opposition groups, such as the Worker-communism Unity Party, and asked workers to report any activities to the company’s security. This way, the company and the government authorities will find excuses to use force and violence in order to intimidate workers and crush their strike. Despite all these threats, the strike still continues as of July 1, 2008. (Source: dastranj news agency).

To read an article by David Mather, Yassamine Mather and Majid Tamjidi entitled ‘Making Cars in Iran: Working for Iran Khodro,’ which was published in the socialist journal Critique, click here: carsiran