Mr. Bernard Gernigon and Mrs. Karen Curtis

Chief & Deputy of the Branch of the Freedom of Association, ILO

International Labour Office
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland

Dear Mr. Gernigon and Mrs. Curtis;

We the undersigned are writing this letter to express our concerns regarding your recent mission to Iran from September 7^th to October 3^rd, 2002 to examine the situation of labour organizations. You have released a report on your findings, exclusively for the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in November 2002; therefore, despite our efforts, we could not access its original text in English. Your report was partially published by some Farsi media, including ISNA. We are hence basing this statement on the information published in Iranian news agencies. At the same time, we are requesting from your office, once again, to provide us with the full copy of this report.

In your report, you have correctly indicated, although vaguely, that there is no independent labour organizations in Iran; however, you subsequently contradicted this undeniable fact about lack of independent workers’ organizations and unions in Iran by referring to some newly established groups like the Association of Iranian Journalists and Association of Iranian Truckers as fair and appropriate examples of independent labour organizations in Iran. You have also concluded that the constitution of the Association of Iranian Journalists, because of being completely open for all workers in this field to become its members, is a good model of a free and unrestricted policy for membership in a labour organization.

But, are these groups really genuine, free and independent labour organizations?

If you study the constitution of the Association of Iranian Journalists, you would realize that this group practices restrictions and discriminations on several grounds particularly against those who are not “nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran” or do not prove their “commitment to one of the official religions of the country”.  This is an organization derived from ideological and religious viewpoints rather than being a trade union in defense of the rights and freedoms of journalists. Furthermore, there are enough evidence to show that many founders and leaders of this association are managers, employers and owners of newspapers and media outlets in Iran. In a system so infamous for political oppression and intolerance towards any opposition, 3 members out of 5-member Executive Board of the above association are members of Majles (Islamic Parliament) and four of them are members and leaders of the Islamic Cooperation Front, which has the majority within the parliament and the state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The same situation applies to the Association of Truck Drives. Employers and owners of trucks have the majority in this association and many of them are leading members of ruling political parties as well as being the authorities of the state. And when such groups get recognition from the department of the Freedom of Association of International Labour Organization as free and independent trade associations, we must stress that all the free organizations of workers globally should call for more explanations and clarifications.  

On the other hand, it is equally important to address fundamental problems with the workers’ House and its affiliates. According to a statement by Mr. Houshmand of the Ministry of Labour (ISNA, 2002/11/07), as well as other reports in Iranian media, a “collective agreement” between Mr. Hassan Sadeghi, the president of Iran’s High Society of the Islamic Shoras of Labour and the Secretary of the High Society of Employers’ Associations of Iran and the government of Islamic Republic of Iran was signed to cover small workshops with five or fewer employees with some minimum labour law protections. This agreement was unfortunately signed in the presence of representatives of the ILO. It is interesting to know that Mr. Sadeghi signed this agreement as the representative of the “Supreme Centre of Trade Associations of Iran”, which is even according to Mr. Houshmand such a center does not exist in reality. Mr. Sadeghi did not as well have any authority to sign such an agreement as the head of the Islamic Shoras because according to the article 1 of the Islamic Shoras of Labour, Islamic Shoras (councils) can only be formed in workplaces with 35 or more employees. Workers in small workshops basically have no organizations of their own, and a law passed by the Majles in February 2002 exempted them from provisions under the labour law.

In addition, as you know, the labour law of the Islamic republic of Iran explicitly prohibits formation of any labour organizations in major industries such as oil, gas, petrochemical, steel and copper industries, etc.

In view of all these facts, it is absolutely clear that the Islamic Councils and their central body, Workers’ House, which are explicitly ideological and sponsored by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have no legitimacy or rights to negotiate or sign any collective or tripartite agreements on behalf of workers in Iran.

Workers in Iran are struggling hard and against all these odds to organize their own genuinely free and independent organizations, free from any government’s and its political parties’ and agents’ interventions or coercions. They expect ILO, especially its department of Freedom of Association, not to legitimize or justify such affiliates of the government of Iran and employers as free and autonomous labour organizations. We are asking you to recognize and support workers’ self-determining initiatives by directly connecting and building bridges with Iranian workers and independent labour activists.

We, the undersigned, were elected as true and legal representatives of workers and all employees of Iran’s oil industry after the 1979 revolution, during the early years in which workers still had the benefit of their free organizations. Based on discussion presented in this letter, we are asking you to take into account the following recommendations:

-         Workers in key industries like oil ought to be able to organize themselves according to the international labour standards without any government’s interference or intimidation.