Change low graphic options | Change language | Skip content to navigation
Page context: Home > News online
ITF condemns arrests of bus union committee members in Iran
17 June 2010
The ITF has denounced the reported arrest of yet two further members of the Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed, the Tehran bus workers’ union in Iran.
It is understood that Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahbi, both committee members of the union were arrested last week by Iranian security forces and are being held at an unknown location. It is also believed that around seven other trade unionists have been detained since April 2010. Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi of the Tehran bus workers’ union have both been in prison since 2007.
In a letter dated 10 June to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ITF general secretary David Cockroft said: “We once again reiterate that the carrying out of normal trade union duties is not an arrestable offence and should never be the grounds for the detention of Saeed Torabian, of Mansour Osanloo, or anyone else. We therefore request that you once again intervene in this process, remedy this situation, and also assure the good health and safety of Mansour Osanloo, who remains unjustly imprisoned.”
On 11 June, national secretary of the ITF-affiliated Maritime Union of Australia Paddy Crumlin also wrote to Ahmadinejad, stating: “In Australia we have visited some of your maritime fleet trading as the ‘Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group)’.
“Our members along with the Australian trade union movement find it increasingly difficult to justify any level of cooperation with these ships or with trade to Iran in general.”
Unions have carried out protest actions in response to this latest attack on workers' rights in Iran, among them a joint demonstration in Jakarta, Indonesia, by the seafarers’ and teachers’ unions as well as a rally in Oslo, Norway.
The ITF is calling on affiliates to send letters of protest to the Iranian government and to organise further activities to show solidarity with Iranian unionists. For more information visit: http://www.justiceforiranianworkers.org/
To view a demonstration on human rights for Iranian workers, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the opening of the World Cup football championships, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/12JuneJoburgNop/a/u/0/W6daHJnqQaI
Related press:
10 June 2010
Another Tehran trade unionist arrested
Saeed Torabian, a spokesperson for the Tehran bus drivers’...
Related news:
13 May 2010
ITF condemns executions in Iran
The ITF has expressed outrage and “extreme concern” following...
Back to current news online stories
Section home:
News online
Other pages for News online:
About News Online | What is RSS | ITF Headlines on your Website
RSS feeds
Download our free RSS news feeds:
English |Español |Français |Deutsch |Svenska
What is RSS?
Main Sections:
Home | About us | Solidarity | Flags of Convenience campaign | Seafarers | Dockers | Civil Aviation | Railways | Road transport | Urban Transport | Fisheries | Tourism | Inland Navigation | Education | Young workers | Women | ETF Home | Congress 2010
Transport International Magazine
accessibility | site help | site map
ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR | +44 20 7403 2733 | mail@itf.org.uk