Iran Khodro workers' letter to Director-General of the ILO
From: The workers of Iran Khodro.
To: His Excellency Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization
Dear Director-General,
Greetings and thanks,
It is necessary to bring to Your Excellency's attention that the individuals who are participating in the International Labour Conference as the representatives of Iranian workers are not, for the reasons that will be presented to you, Iranian workers' representatives.
1- The selection of these individuals as the representatives of Iranian workers is contrary to conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organization, of which Your Excellency is the Director-General. According to these conventions the workers have the right to elect their representatives in free elections and governments have no right to intervene in the founding of free workers' organisations. These individuals have been selected by the government and represent the employers in Iran and have nothing to do with the workers of Iran.
2- In Iran having of any form of independent and free labour organisation is illegal and is considered to be a crime. Iran Khodro, the company in which we work, has over 100,000 personnel, 40,000 of whom work in the central company and work under one roof but have no labour organisation or even a government-controlled organisation.
3- Iranian workers, especially the workers of Iran Khodro, are deprived of having any labour organisation. In Iran any person who attempts to set up an organisation is sacked immediately and the representatives of the organisation are arrested and jailed. An example of this is the case of the Vahed Bus company workers.
4- The government of Iran, and leading it the Labour Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose representatives have been invited by you as our - the workers' - representatives to the International Labour Conference, are opposed to all labour organisations in any shape or form. The Labour Ministry of Iran does not pay any attention to any human rights or even the Labour Code of Iran. And in accordance with this aim prevents independent labour organisations' elections.
5- The government of Iran, with the help of the security forces, prevents workers from achieving their rights, prevents any form of strike and workers' gathering, and arrests and jails striking workers. An example of this is the sacking of dozens of Iran Khodro and Iran Khodro Diesel workers during the past year. Also now the representatives of the sacked and unemployed workers are in prison.
6- Since the workers of Iran do not have labour organisations and civil freedoms they are deprived of their basic rights and wages and right now 80% of Iranian workers are working on contracts or on daily wages when in permanent jobs. They have no right to express an opinion on their contract and on that basis give in to signing 'blank cheques'. And this clearly contravenes the conventions of the International Labour Organization.
Dear Director-General,
In a country where the workers are deprived of having of any organisations how, and according to which law, can a group be elected as workers' representatives and participate in the International Labour Conference?
We, the workers of Iran Khodro, see your acceptance of these individuals as the representatives of Iranian workers as a breach of the International Labour Organization's rules and especially contravening conventions 87 and 98.
We, the workers of Iran Khodro, do not recognise these individuals as our representatives and demand that they be ejected from the International Labour Conference.
We ask Your Excellency that in addition to condemning the government of Iran for its clear breach of the International Labour Organization's conventions, because of the arrest and imprisonment and sacking of workers, to demand the immediate release of imprisoned workers and end police investigations against these workers.
Dear Director-General,
We hope that the International Labour Organization and the Director-General can pass a resolution that brings about the implementation of the fundamental labour conventions, and above all, conventions 87 and 98 of ILO and the holding of free elections for the formation of free workers' organisations and the election of genuine workers' representatives. This will make it possible that [the genuine workers' representatives] can be present at future International Labour Organization conferences.
A group of workers from the Iran Khodro vehicle manufacturer
29 May 2007
Our email address: ikcokar
yahoo.com
Copies to: all human rights organisations.