AFL-CIO and the ITUC call on Iranian authorities to drop charges and release detained trade unionists in line with the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labor Organization.
Salt Lake City, August 7, 2019 — In a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 23, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) representing 207 million workers in 163 territories has strongly condemned the continued harassment, detention and torture of labor activists and journalists in Iran, among them Ismail Bakshi and Sepideh Quliyan.
Shortly thereafter, Cathy Feingold, the International Director of the AFL-CIO and Deputy President of the ITUC, addressed a letter to Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador at the United Nations, wherein she denounced “the continued persecution of trade unionists and the systematic abuse of workers’ and trade union rights in Iran.”
The AFL-CIO and the ITUC note that many labor activists and journalists continue to be detained and tortured in Iran, among them Esmail Abdi, a teachers’ union leader; Reza Shahabi, a director of the Tehran bus workers’ union; Mahmoud Salehi, a baker’s union leader and Ismail Bakshi and Sepideh Quliyan, Haft Tapeh sugar cane activists.
Khosrow B. Semnani, an Iranian-American philanthropist based in Utah, organized a campaign to help detained workers from the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company. Semnani supported and coordinated this effort with Jim Worthington, President of the AFL-CIO's Utah Chapter; Karen Mayne, Utah State Senate Minority Leader and Semnani’s team of international labor lawyers.
"This is an important moment in the history of Iran’s labor movement," Semnani said. "With their action, the ITUC and AFL-CIO are shedding light on the repression of union leaders whose only crime is defending the rights of their members to their wages, pensions and benefits. Instead of protecting workers and industries against the scourge of corruption and mismanagement that is destroying Iran’s economy, Iran’s regime condemns those who protest against injustice."
The unprecedented global action to protect Iran’s workers, teachers, bakers and bus drivers comes on the heels of a complaint filed with the International Labor Organization in May 2019 by workers in Iran’s sugar industry. In its defense of the Iranian workers, the AFL-CIO’s Cathy Feingold notes that “workers are demanding full payment of wage and benefit arrears, recognition of the union as the workers’ legal representative and reinstatement of all unjustly terminated workers, and return of the company’s ownership to government.”
Denouncing “attacks on workers by masked men as well as their arrest, beating and torture by police,” the ITUC has called for the release of detained trade unionists in line with recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labor Organization (ILO). ITUC’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was endorsed by eighty trade syndicates representing workers from Brazil to Sweden to Turkey to Indonesia—an unprecedented international declaration in support of Iranian labor unions and their leaders.
“We are proud of our work with the AFL-CIO’s Utah Chapter and the International Trade Union Confederation,” said Semnani. “Their actions give hope to millions of workers in Iran, including union leaders and journalists imprisoned for simply exercising their rights to freedom of association and assembly. As Iranian-Americans we too can take small steps to improve the economic future of the Iranian people."
The AFL-CIO is a democratic, voluntary federation of 55 national and international labor unions that strives to ensure that all working people are treated fairly, with decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, dignity and equal opportunities. aflcio.org
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is the world's largest trade union federation. It was created in November 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour. The ITUC’s primary mission is the promotion and defense of workers’ rights and interests, through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within the major global institutions. www.ituc-csi.org
The Haft Tapeh Agro-Industrial Workers Syndicate (HTAIWS) was founded in 1974 and is one of the oldest trade unions in Iran. Representing more than 4,000 workers at the Haft Tapeh Agro-Industrial Complex, HTAIWS has been at the forefront of Iranian labor movement, publicizing the grievances of the Haft Tappeh workers and demanding accountability from the government. The Haft Tapeh complex in the City of Shush produces the majority of Iran’s sugar.
Khosrow Semnani, an Iranian-American philanthropist based in Salt Lake City, Utah is the author of Where Is My Oil? a report on systemic corruption in Iran’s economy, and its impact on the economic future and well-being of workers, teachers and pensioners. See WhereIsMyOil.org for more information. www.whereismyoil.org
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www.WhereIsMyOil.org
