According to reports received Ghorban Alipoor, one of the representatives of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company workers, was arrested by plain-clothes agents on the afternoon of Monday 5 November and has been taken to an unknown place. When his wife went to the Information Ministry office she was told that she will receive the final decision on his arrest and his charges on the afternoon of 6 November.
The workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company have declared that if their representative is not released by the end of today, then, in protest against this act by the protectors of capital, they will go on strike from the morning of 7 November.
The arrest of this workers' representative is taking place at a time when the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company workers with their successful strikes during last month, are making progress in forming their own independent trade union. It is precisely for this reason that the capitalist system has taken such actions to try to prevent the forming of such an organisation. By leaning on the experiences of others from their class, the workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company and their combative representatives have shown that they have adopted the right path for continuing their progress in defence of their just demands, especially the right to form independent labour organisations.
We strongly condemn the arrest of this workers' representative and ask all labour activists and organisations in Iran and the world, and other social movements, to not remain silent in the face of this aggression of capital against the inalienable right of the workers and, through any means possible, to protest against the actions of the anti-working class defenders of capitalism.
Co-operation Council of Labour Organisations and Activists
6 November 2007
The Co-operation Council of Labour Organisations and Activists is a united action bloc made up of the following organisations:
Pursuit Committee for the Formation of Free Labour Organisations
Workers' Cultural-Support Organisation
Co-ordination Committee for the Formation of Labour Organisations
Mahmoud Salehi Defence Committee
The Union of Labour Committees
A group of Labour Activists
A group of Iranian University Students Demanding Freedom and Equality
Translated by Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
Ghorban Alipoor and Mohammad Heydari Mehr have now been released on bail.