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Worldwide action day for Iranian workers called for 26 June
21 May 2009
An international labour movement coalition has rallied activists around the world to stand up for the trade union rights of workers in Iran.
The ITF and three other global union organisations – the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Education International and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Unions - have called an international day of action on 26 June. Backed by Amnesty International, the protests will take place outside Iranian embassies and consulates as well as in other popular locations, such as city centres. They will demand justice for workers in Iran whose rights are persistently being trampled. One recent example includes the severe repression of independent workers’ organisations in Tehran as they attempted to celebrate May Day in Tehran this year; more than 100 people were detained by secret police during the event.
The union movement is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of jailed trade union members and leaders, including Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi and Farzad Kamangar and those arrested in Tehran on May Day. It also wants to see the one-year prison sentences imposed on the five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Workers' Union quashed.
David Cockroft, ITF general secretary, explained: “The four organisations issued a joint statement on May Day and warned the Iranian authorities not to interfere with the peaceful activities by independent workers' organisations. But what we saw was the worst crackdown in recent months. Some of those arrested have been transferred to Evin Prison.”
Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary commented: “We have exhausted all avenues of reasonable dialogue to persuade the government of Iran to allow basic human and trade union rights. Their answer has been repression and arrests. Given this failure we must take to the streets to demonstrate that the world is watching what they are doing and what is happening to our colleagues within the country.”
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