Iranian oil workers arrested
On February 16, hundreds of oil workers and their elected representatives from petroleum refineries in Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran, together with workers of the oil pipelines and the national gas company, were arrested at a picket in front of the Tehran oil ministry.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has also declared all oil workers' organisations illegal, banned the formation of a national organisation and refused their demand for collective bargaining.
The oil workers are protesting against their working conditions and low wages, and for the right to form a workers' organisation. The oil workers had previously threatened to go on an all-out national, unlimited strike if their legitimate demands are not met.
On February 5 and 6, they elected representatives, who then went to Tehran to form a national organisation. This organisation met on February 7, but the government intervened and dissolved the meeting.
It then forced the representatives to return to their respective cities and prohibited them from leaving, putting them under "city" arrest. A week later, the government demanded that each city send representatives to Tehran for negotiations. These negotiations were fruitless.
On February 16, around 2000 oil workers and their representatives, accompanied by many workers of associated industries, picketed in front of the oil ministry and demanded to speak to the minister.
Iranian "Revolutionary" Guards were called and quickly surrounded the area. They fired shots into the air to deter others from joining the protest.
Later, the Revolutionary Guards brought many buses to the scene and arrested several hundred workers, their representatives and others.
In a radio interview, the oil minister claimed that negotiations with oil workers had taken place and that an agreement had been reached.
According to sources in Iran, this was a complete fabrication; workers in all four refineries and the Tehran oil distribution department, oil pipeline workers and the national gas company have joined the strike to free their colleagues.
Supporter of the oil workers urge all trade unions, political parties and the media to publicise this news and to put pressure on the Iranian government to free all those arrested, immediately and unconditionally.