Statement 2
After the May Day plans of the 'Labour House' were foiled and the workers rejected the presence of Hashemi Rafsanjani (the presidential candidate supported by the Labour House) at their May Day rally, the Labour House hirelings of the capitalist government attacked the workers to regain some of their authority.
On Monday 9 May around 300 agents of the Labour House and the Islamic Labour Councils, together with the security forces, broke the door of the union and broke windows, tore up documents and books, and beat up around ten members of the Founding Committee of the Sherkat-e Vahed Union. (Sherkat-e Vahed is a public transport company in the Tehran area and is one of the biggest employers in Iran.)
Hassan Sadeghi, Secretary of the Co-ordination Headquarters of the Islamic Labour Councils, led this assault. Ahmadi Panjaki, a member of the Co-ordination Headquarters of the Islamic Labour Councils, Akbar Ayoozi (of the Labour House), Hassan Bahrami, Eskandar Nassiri, Mahdavikhah, Ali-Reza Ahmadi, Sarvandi and Jalal Saeed-Manesh (of the Sherkat-e Vahed Islamic Labour Council) and Amani (Sherkat-e Vahed's 'protection' officer) were other members of this raiding party.
Jalal Saeed-Manesh, one of the assailants, tried to cut the tongue and neck of Mansour Ossalou (a member of the Founding Committee of the Sherkat-e Vahed Union) while Hassan Sadeghi (Secretary of the Co-ordination Headquarters of the Islamic Labour Councils) held Ossalou's hand behind his back. In addition to all the damage they caused to the union office, the attackers also took a motorbike and other equipment belonging to the members of the union.
After the attack the members of the Founding Committee went to Abu-Saeed police station to lodge a complaint. Mansoor Ossalou was hospitalised and according to the latest news, after having stitches in his tongue and neck, was taken to headquarters of the security forces.
Even though Major Kiani, one of the intelligence officers attached to County Security , has expressed his "sorrow" about these events, and promised to investigate them, the security forces in the area immediately started to replace the broken glass in the union office and to clean it up. When the workers protested against this they seized the cameras of reporters and have said that they themselves will broadcast accurate information about the events.
It is obvious that to defend themselves the workers cannot rely on the government agencies and the information personnel of the government. The only way to confront these attacks is to rely on their own strength. To confront the hirelings of the capitalist government the workers need to set up self-defence committees and to guard their own meetings, offices and equipment.
If the capitalist government is unable to arrest and try these hirelings, then a court under the auspices of the International Labour Organization and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions must be set up so that the representatives of the workers can try these people.
In addition to condemning these anti-working class actions, the Workers' Action Committee will do its utmost to contact progressive forces internationally and to mobilise their support in protesting against these anti-democratic moves. Together with our comrades and supporters throughout the world we will launch an international campaign in defence of Iranian workers and ask that all progressive forces support this campaign.
11 May 2005
Workers' Action Committee (Iran)
Translated by: Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network (IWSN)
Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network (IWSN) asks that you react quickly to this new development which has been calculated to thwart the workers' gains during the past year. It is absolutely crucial that the international labour movement strongly condemns this assault so that the regime, and its 'labour organisations' like the Labour House, are not emboldened to carry out further attacks on the blossoming independent labour movement.
Please send your protest letters, faxes or emails to:
Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami
President
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue , Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 98-21-648.06.65
Email: khatami@president.ir
Please send copies of your protest to:
Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
BM IWSN
London WC1N 3XX.
England
E-mail: iranwsn@yahoo.co.uk
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
5 Boulevard du Roi Albert II, Bte 1
1210 Brussels
Belgium
Fax: +32 (0)2 201 5815
E-mail: turights@icftu.org
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Labour Office
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Email: ilo@ilo.org