4000 brick kiln workers win pay rise after a 17-day strike!
The 4000 workers at the brick kilns of Vayghan-Shabestar, in East Azerbaijan province, have won better pay and benefits following a 17-day strike. Iranian Workers’ Solidarity Network has translated two statements by the Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers on this strike.
Victory of Vayghan-Shabestar brick kiln workers after a 17-day united strike
On Sunday July 5th 2009 the brick kiln workers of Vayghan-Shabestar gained an important victory after 17 days of united resistance and struggle. The achievements of this 17-day strike were: wages of 11 tomans (¢1.1) per brick, payment of all workers’ insurance and of costs for transporting the luggage of workers in these workshops, and the boss having to pay a daily bread subsidy to the doors of homes of workers living near the kilns.
Before this the workers were being paid 10 tomans a brick and the boss was refusing to set the wage rate for this year. The workers of Shabestar kilns have, this year and last year, led the way in the struggle for pay rises and every year they have won a noticeable victory. The workers and their families have had to bear great hardship in winning this victory and we have mentioned their praise-worthy resistance in previous reports.
The Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers congratulates the workers of Shabestar kilns and their families and all Iranian workers and calls on workers in other production and service sectors to organise general assemblies and set up their organisations in order to struggle for their wages and their denied rights.
Long live workers’ class solidarity.
The Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers
6 July 2009
Strike by 4000 brick kiln workers in Shabestar
According to reports received by the Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers, the workers of the brick kilns in Vayghan-Shabestar went on strike on June 19th to protest against the non-payment of their wages. There are over 4000 workers in the Vayghan kilns, and after the boss refused to set their wage level, they went on an indefinite strike and elected representatives to lead the strike. In previous years the workers at the brick kilns have had to strike to raise their wages and have been successful.
According to news received the boss of the Vayghan-Shabestar kilns had earlier called on the police to help him. He had put up a notice at the office of the brickworks threatened the workers, saying that striking workers would be dealt with and that they would be sentenced to six months in jail. But the workers were determined and did not pay any attention to the threats of the boss and his agents. They began a united and powerful strike.
The Free Trade Union of Iranian Workers
19 June 2009
„News coming from Mashhad:After Mashhadi student Mostafa Qanian who was killed in Tehran now there is another one,Hamid Madah is the second student from Mashhad who was killed.He is one of those people who did Tahason(to seat in some holly places in order to protest against something)in Mashhad Goharshad mosque and was arrested by security agents.He released after 6 days being interrogated but died after 2 days .In the recieved news indicated that he has had brain bleeding or brain stoppage because of psychological pressures in detaintion.“
„Yaqoob Barvaieh, 27, born in Ahwaz, died at hospital today. He was shot on 25 June by a basiji from the rooftop of Lowlagar Mosque in Tehran. He was an MA student in performing arts.
Taraneh Mousavi, 28, was among hundreds arrested on June 19, 2009. Since than her family has had no news of her whereabouts. There are reports now that her mother was contacted by an anonymous caller from the regime’s security after three weeks of her disappearance to say that she had been hospitalized in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj due to the rupturing of her womb. Her family went to the hospital but did not find her there. They say some of the nurses recall a woman there whose womb was torn but that she was removed whilst unconscious. The caller said she had tried to hang herself in prison because of her lack of honour. According to a witness who was arrested with her, she was detained in the vicinity of Shariati Street in Tehran. ‘The security forces physically and mentally abused us. Some were transferred to Evin prison and some others were released. Her interrogation took longer than the rest; she was very beautiful with green eyes. Whilst they released us and transferred others, they kept her. She was not even allowed to contact her family. Taraneh’s father suffers from a heart condition and is seriously ill after the disappearance of his only child. The family have been warned not to mention that she was arrested in the protests. There is concern that she was raped and killed.“
„Hopi activists have been informed that there is talk of civil disobedience in order to shut down the electricity network in Iran on Tuesday July 21. This has predominantly come from technicians and workers in the power service, but they are also calling on people to help by switching on all power to force a shutdown.“
Latin American occupied factories in solidarity with Iranian workers
This resolution was passed at the 2nd Latin American Gathering of Workers in Occupied Factories in Caracas, on June 25-27.
The 2nd Latin American Gathering of Workers in Occupied Factories wishes to express our support to the revolutionary movement of the Iranian masses against the Islamic Republic, and particularly to the movement of Iranian workers for their democratic rights and economic demands, while rejecting at the same time any imperialist interference.
The images of brutal repression against the youth and workers of Iran and the realisation that in Iran a young student or a worker can go to jail for the simple act of organising a strike, creating a trade union or demonstrating against the state or the bosses, has caused a massive outrage against the Iranian government on the part of workers and youth all over the world. Several counter-revolutionary intellectuals and the mass media at the service of imperialism, conscious of this, are attempting – with the cynicism and demagogy which characterise them – to identify Venezuela with Iran, and an honest anti-imperialist and revolutionary president like Chávez with Ahmadinejad. This Gathering rejects these allegations.
Für eine drogenfreie Uni! (pdf-Datei, 343 kb), ein weiteres Flugblatt der Hochschulgruppe Junge KommunistInnen. Hochschulgruppe der DKP Hamburg aus dem Jahre 1996 (eine Reihe weiterer Flugis von damals hier) zur damals drohenden Schliessung des Fachbereiches Theologie:
2.) Das Regime hat am heutigen Morgen in Zahedan 13 Menschen ermordet/hingerichtet, denen Mitgliedschaft in der bewaffneten sunnitisch-islamistischen belutschischen Organisation Joundallah („Soldaten Gottes“) vorgeworfen wurde. Laut Revolutionary Road droht Joundallah im Gegenzug mit (weiteren) Terrorakten:
„The executions, according to the state radio, took place in Zahedan, 930 miles (1,500km) south-east of Tehran. Jundallah has carried out bombings, kidnappings and killings in the area in recent years.
Irna said that the men were to be hanged in public, but the authorities decided at the last minute to execute them inside Zahedan’s main prison. State radio had earlier reported that the executions took place in public.
The area where Jundallah is active is a key smuggling point for drugs – mainly opium – and is the scene of frequent clashes between police and traffickers.
Iranian authorities say Jundallah has close ties to „foreign forces“ in neighbouring Afghanistan, a possible reference to al-Qaida.“
„At exactly the same time we all plugged in our most electricity guzzling household appliances: hair strengtheners, irons, hair dryers etc. By doing this we were aiming to overload Tehran’s surrounding power stations one by one.
We’ve already tried several times. On Tuesday [7 July] it was just before Ahmadinejad’s speech on TV that the messages appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Balatarin [Iranian news sharing site]: ‘Please plug in your electrical appliances as soon as Ahmadinejad appears on TV’. It doesn’t seem to have worked in the city centre but I was told that the towns of Ahvaz, Ispahan, Racht, Sari and some districts of Karaj were plunged into darkness. At the same time, people ran out onto the rooftops and shouted ‘death to the dictator!’ Even television programming was interrupted because the IRIB [Iranian state TV] had to transfer to an emergency generator [not verified].
Rather than taking to the streets in protest, now we’re organising things like operation blackout – we cause traffic jams as an excuse to honk our horns, graffiti the walls etc. We are however doing a demonstration in front of Tehran University today. It’s the anniversary of the 1999 student revolt. We might well start demonstrating again.“"
4.) Die tazinterviewte eine in der BRD im Exil lebende Aktivistin der Frauenbewegung aus Iranisch-Kurdistan:
„Ich hatte bis Mitte der 1990er Jahre eine Geburtshilfeklinik in einem ländlichen Grenzgebiet zum Irak. Dadurch hatte ich viel Kontakt zu Frauen, die von ihren Männern misshandelt wurden. Politische Organisierung außerhalb des Regimes gab es nur in Form der kurdischen Parteien, doch auch diese wurden von Männern beherrscht. Frauen konnten dort nicht für ihre Rechte sprechen. Das haben wir versucht aufzubrechen. Ich habe Frauen zusammengebracht, damit sie in den Parteien Strukturen aufbauen und sich so gegen die patriarchale Unterdrückung zur Wehr setzen. Außerdem war ich in der kurdischen Freiheitsbewegung aktiv.
Ging das lange gut?
Nein. Es gab gewisse Freiräume, weil die islamische Republik die kurdischen Provinzen nie hundertprozentig unter Kontrolle hatte. Doch eines Abends kam eine Patientin zu mir. Ihr Mann arbeitete beim Geheimdienst. Sie sagte mir, dass ich unter Beobachtung stehe und aufpassen solle. Mein Vater hat früher gegen das Schah-Regime und später gegen Khomeini gekämpft. Insgesamt saß er über sechs Jahre im Gefängnis und hat durch Folter beide Beine verloren. Unter anderem deshalb verließ ich sofort das Land, als diese Warnung kam.“
„Anti-imperialism stands for — as anti-imperialism should — liberation. It is liberation for all the exploited, from all sorts of exploitation. Anti-imperialism includes national liberation, women’s emancipation, democratization, political and economic empowerment, respect for religious minorities, and self-determination for oppressed nationalities. Anti-imperialism is freedom for all oppressed, from all oppression.
In contrast, Ahmedinejad, or Osama ben Laden for that matter, offer an anti-imperialism that does not tolerate these values. Theirs is an anti-imperialism that chokes minorities, strangles smaller nationalities and reduces women to bodies-sans-minds hidden under thick burkas.
One cannot be a liberator and an oppressor at the same time. The anti-imperialism that upholds Ahmedinejad as its poster boy does not solve this contradiction. We have seen this anti-imperialism in Afghanistan under the Taliban where it was reduced to the burka and massacre of minorities. Al-Qaeda is the non-state portrayal of this brand of anti-imperialism: bombings, kidnappings, hijackings.
The anti-imperialism currently on display in the Muslim world is symbolic and not of substance. It signifies a new phase in the relationship between two estranged lovers, fundamentalism and imperialism. It is the product of the process run by imperialism in collaboration with fundamentalism, to eliminate genuine anti-imperialism in the Muslim world.“
Ein wenig Staatsbürgerkundeunterricht für JournalistInnen (Filmbericht, 1.43 min), 4. Juli 2009, Schanzenviertel … ob die nächste Unterrichtsstunde das Thema „Feindstrafrecht“ oder „Putativnotwehr“ oder „Kontaktschuld“ zum Thema hat ist noch unklar
Sowohl omidhabibinia wie auch die Demokratische Partei Kurdistan-Iran (PDKI) berichten von einem erfolgreichen Generalstreik und Protesten am heutigen Tage in den kurdischsprachigen Gebieten des Landes, Anlass ist die Ermordung des damaligen PDKI-Vorsitzenden Abdul-Rahman Ghassemlou sowie zweier weiterer kurdischer Aktivisten, Abdullah Ghaderi Azar und Fadhil Rassul vor 20 Jahren durch den iranischen Geheimdienst in Wien, anzumerken ist noch, dass die beiden Städte Sanandaj und Saqez in Iranisch-Kurdistan Hochburgen der unabhängigen Gewerkschaftsbewegung im Iran sind. omidhabibinia berichtet von Streiks in Mahabad, Bokan, Sardasht und Saqez, nachfolgend dokumentiert das Statement der PDKI:
General Strike in Iranian Kurdistan
PDKI – Press release
On the 20th anniversary of the assassination of the Kurdish leader and former General-Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), Dr. Abdul-Rahman Ghassmlou, the people of Iranian Kurdistan staged a general strike.
Every year, since the assassination of Dr. Ghassemlou on 13 July 1989 by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the PDKI has called on the Kurdish nation in Iranian Kurdistan to commemorate Dr. Ghassemlou as well as to condemn the Islamic regime’s policies of assassination and terrorism by engaging in various forms of peaceful political protest.
This year, like previous years, the markets, shopping centres and individual shops all over Iranian Kurdistan were closed. Furthermore, the inhabitants of Iranian Kurdistan have assembled in large numbers dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes to symbolically express their condemnation of the assassination of Dr. Ghassemlou by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
2.) Aus dem heutigen Update von Revolutionary Road:
* At Babol industrial Uni, 16 people were summoned to the disciplinary committee and detained students are in a situation that should be concerned.
* Three men were hanged on Sunday in the town of Arak in central Iran!
* In Saqez city on Saturday security forces attacked and inspected political activists houses and arrested 32 citizens whom are former political activists.
* In recent protests across the country Kermanshah citizens also have had some gatherings in defferent days.Tens of Kermanshah people were arrested in these protests.Some of detained people have been transfered to Dizel Abad Prison and into the dangerous prisoners part.Kermanshahi detainees names are as follows: 1.Reza Tavakoli 2. Mohammad Ayoubi 3. Mansour Moradi 4. Ayyoub Nasiri 5. Foad Rahnama 6.Hiva Haji7. Nasrin Kargar 8.Rojin Yeganeh 9. Bahman Mortazavi 10.Shahram Bijani.
* People in Tehran are continuing to honk their horns at the sight of Basijis – and chanting anti-government slogans while speeding away. Many people drive with their headlights on. Reports indicate that many Basijis are quitting their jobs and are being replaced by fresh recruits, many of them under 18. People travelling to Iran are being targeted at the airport upon entry and are being forced to divulge their Twitter and Facebook accounts so the government can monitor their online activity.
3.) Zwei weitere vom Regime ermordete Menschen, der Abiturient Sohrab A’arabi (Tehran) und der Journalist Mehrdad Heydari (Mashad), Human Rights Activists in Iranlistet eine Reihe repressiver Massnahmen der vergangenen Wochen auf:
“ …
- June 13 – Special anti-riot forces and vigilante group Ansar-e-Hezbollah attacked the dormitories of the Technical University of Isfahan and detained 60 students. They took students to an undisclosed location.
- June 14 – Chief of Tehran police, Commander Ahmad Reza Radan, announced that 170 demonstrators were arrested and that arrest warrants for the main plotters of the demonstrations were issued.
- June 15 – The police and security forces attacked a group of civilians and detained scores of people in the city of Zahedan.
- June 15 – Security forces went to men and women dormitories of the University of Tabriz and detained 10 students. They took the students to an undisclosed location.
- June 16 – More than 150 students of University of Mazandaran, who were having a sit-in protest, were beaten and detained. Vigilantes and plain clothes security forces took turns attacking the students with batons, daggers and clubs.
- June 17 – Prosecutor of Tabriz, Yahya Mirza Mohammadi, announced that 50 to 60 demonstrators were detained on charges of disturbing the peace and unlawful assembly.
- June 17 – Prosecutor of Isfahan, Mohammad Reza Habibi, announced that the security forces detained 200 demonstrators.
- June 17 – Prosecutor of Zanjan, Jafar Golmohammadi, announced that 30 demonstrators were detained by the security forces.
- June 17 – One person died and forty 45 got injured after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Isfahan. Many of the injured had eye and head injuries and were hospitalized at Shariati hospital.
- June 17 – Two hundred students were detained after a raid on University of Tehran dormitories. A university official told Mehr news agency that 80 of these students were released later.
- June 18 – More than 100 prominent civic leaders of Tabriz were detained after demonstrations.
- June 18 – In Zanjan 7 people were detained after demonstrations. Prosecutor Jafar Golmohammadi told ISNA news agency that in the past week 23 people had been arrested. He said most of them were freed on their own recognizance.
- June 18 – Twenty students were detained in Hamadan. An official of Mr. Mehdi Karrubi’s presidential campaign confirmed this report.
- June 18 – One hundred students of University of Mazandaran were detained on Tuesday June 16 demonstrations. Eleven were still detained at the time of the report.
- June 19 – Amirullah Shamaghdari, police and security chief of Khurasan Razavi province, announced that 86 demonstrators were detained by the security forces.
- June 19 – One hundred and fifty students of University of Semnan were detained after a protest gathering.
- June 19 – Chief prosecutor of Lorestan province, Zabihullah Khodaian, announced the arrest of an undisclosed number of demonstrators in Khorramabad.
- June 20 – Commander of NAJA (police) reported that 400 police were injured in June 19 demonstrations.
- June 21 – Chief Ahmad Reza Radan announced that 457 demonstrators were arrested on June 20th.
- June 21 – Radan also confirmed that 10 civilians died and 100 injured in demonstrations.
- June 22 – Security forces raided the offices of the newspaper Kalameh Sabz (Green Word) and detained 25 workers. Presidential candidate Mir Husayn Musavi is the publisher of Kalameh Sabz.
- June 24 – Mir Husayn Musavi met with the members of the Islamic Organization of University Instructors. Seventy of the instructors were detained after this meeting.
- June 25 – Commander of Siyyid-u-Shuhada army of Tehran, a vigilante group associated with the government, said that 300 of his vigilantes were injured and 8 died in countering street demonstrations.
- June 27 – Police detained more than 20 women who had gathered in Laleh Park in protest against the police violence and recent detentions.
- June 30 – The prosecutor of Isfahan announced the release of 280 people after the recent demonstrations.
- July 1 – Police chief announced that his forces had detained 1034 people during the post-election demonstrations. He said other arrests were done by vigilantes and security forces.
- July 1 – Commander of NAJA (police) announced that 20 “rioters” were killed in the recent demonstrations. „
4.) Offenbar hat das Regime trotz materieller Anreize Probleme, genügend Schläger zu rekrutieren, wie Revolutionary Road berichtet:
„Tehran Times : „Tehran police is planning to set up a 50,000-strong special constable-like force called the ‘honorary police officers’ to provide assistance to the police support units.“
By public call for this so-called job opportunity we can come to this conclusion as well, they seriously do not have enough repression forces and also there is no one has left from insiders (People whom belong to Islamic regime and their relatives) to be trained so this is their last option.“
5.) Aus zwei Texten aus der Solibewegung zur Kritik der Ahmadinejad-VersteherInnen:
Kritik an dem Staat Israel ist nicht per se antisemitisch, doch der instinktsichere Fokus auf den Zionismus als „Todfeind der Völker“ bei gleichzeitiger Inbrunst für die „Nation“ und „nationale Souveränität“, also für die Herrschaft tugendterroristischer und antisemitischer Regime wie der Islamischen Republik Iran, ist wahrhaft antisemitisch. Kommunistische Ehrensache ist die konsequente Distanzierung von antizionistischen Eiferern, die sich nebenbei an Nation und Staat erquicken, und die Verteidigung Israels vor antisemitischer Anfeindung. Die Solidarität mit jenen Israelis, die aus der vorgesehenen Rolle des nationalistischen, loyalen Staatsbürgers ausbrechen und die Hoffnung auf die antinationale Vergeschwisterung der Menschen zu erhalten versuchen, ist gleichsam geboten.
The close and regular links of your leader, Chávez, with the leaders of this regime will eventually make the Iranian masses turn their back on the great lessons of the revolutionary process in Venezuela. Winning the hearts and minds of the masses in Iran and similar countries is the best long-term solution to breaking Washington’s stranglehold on Latin America. Your leader’s closeness with the capitalist government of Iran, a government that has the blood of thousands of workers and youth on its hands, shows that his anti-imperialist foreign policy has a major flaw. Being close to reactionary regimes will never be able to bring the anti-imperialist foreign policy to a successful conclusion. Only the unity of the real representatives of the workers and toilers can confront imperialism.
Stand together with the Iranian workers and condemn the foreign policy of your leaders. Support for Ahmadinejad means support for the repression of Iranian workers and youth. Challenge the flawed positions of Chávez and reject them. Support for the government of Ahmadinejad, especially after the recent events, is at worst an open betrayal of the toilers of Iran and at best a political blunder in foreign policy.“
