Iran's Labour Code amendments: a double whammy aimed at workers' livelihoods

The Labour Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran was adopted on 20 November 1990, and although it is riddled with flaws and shortcomings, it has provided workers with a small measure of protection against bosses and government officials (as the state controls 80% of the economy) trying to maximise profits at workers' expense.

Until now the most significant amendments to the Labour Code have involved watering down the provisions protecting workers in workshops (where 90% of workers are women). First the exemption condition was raised from three to five workers and then revised up to 10. So for the past few years workers in workshops with 10 or less workers have had no legal protection at all.

Now, in line with the government's privatisation and deregulation policies, two key sections of the Labour Code are to be amended. From the new year, which begins on 21 March 2009, it will be easier to sack workers and to pay them starvation wages. Section 21, which covers the conditions for sacking workers, and Section 41, which describes how the minimum wage is to be set, are to be amended in a way that makes them completely useless to workers.

Firing at will
Section 21 details the conditions under which the boss can terminate a worker's employment, with articles (a)-(f) mentioning obvious things like "the worker's death" and so on. Now the newly proposed article (g) is going to make it much easier to sack workers.

Reza Shahabi, a member of the Vahed Bus Company Trade Union's Steering Committee, said in a recent interview that there will be no barrier to bosses sacking workers and it will cost them nothing. He added: "Of course, before this amendment the bosses didn't pay any attention to the Labour Code and used any method to sack workers." But "by adding article (g) to Section 21 of the Labour Code, the employers will be more confident in destroying workers' wages."

In case of a social or economic crisis, the bosses can, with the approval of a five-man tripartite committee, take steps towards the "adjustment of human resources". In the rush to adopt the amendment even the due process of the regime's own laws is being flouted. According to existing laws, any amendment to the sections or articles of the Labour Code must first be passed by parliament and then ratified by the Guardian Council (with no role for the Expediency Council). Although the amendment on "human resources adjustment in special circumstances" was discussed by parliament two years ago, it was part of a package that included measures on calculating bonus entitlements. Now it has reappeared as an Expediency Council objective and the other amendments have been dropped.

Starvation wages
The regime is also trying to do away with the minimum wage. Even though the official minimum wage never had anything to do with the real cost of living for working class families, it was a reference point for workers demanding pay rises. However, the "targeted subsidies" proposed in a draft bill by the regime basically point to doing away with Section 41.

Section 41 sets out that: "The minimum wage of workers shall be fixed … [according to] the rate of inflation announced by the Central Bank" and, this is supposed to be "Regardless of the physical and intellectual abilities of workers and the characteristics of the work assigned, the minimum wage shall be sufficient to meet the living expenses of a family, whose average number of members shall be specified by the appropriate authorities."

However, as the inflation rate used is that of the previous year the minimum wage has never been enough to live on. On top of that many workers know that Section 41 was never implemented fully and thousands of workers are owed money dating back to the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

So in the new year the workers will face renewed attacks on their jobs and pay - and it will all be legal! Considering the general international situation, and the Iranian economy's deepening crisis, it is clear that a year of decisive battles awaits the Iranian working class.

Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
18 December 2008