Vahed-BusfahrerInnen kämpfen weiter

Nach einem Bericht der Teheraner Vahed-ArbeiterInnen, der an die Arbeiterkommunistische Partei Irans (WPI) geschickt wurde – so das Kommunique Nr. 9 der WPI von heute – haben sich 4 Vorstandsmitglieder der Vahed-Gewerkschaft seit gestern vor dem berüchtigten Evin-Gefängnis versammelt. Sie haben die letzte Nacht vor dem Gefängnis verbracht und befanden sich zum Berichtszeitpunkt, Dienstag 21:30 Uhr Ortszeit (19 Uhr MEZ) immer noch dort. Sie haben erklärt, bis zur Freilassung aller Gefangenen Kollegen dort bleiben zu wollen. Aus allen 10 Busbezirken der Stadt ist man mit ihnen telefonisch im Kontakt. Die ArbeiterInnen der 10 Bezirke sind in Bereitschaft und warten auf eine Reaktion der Regierung und die Freilassung ihrer Kollegen.

Vergangene Nacht wurden infolge der Kämpfe 11 der Gefangenen freigelassen. Aber noch sitzen Mansur Assanlou und weitere 6 Vorstandmitglieder der Gewerkschaft im Gefängnis: Nasser Golami, Sayed Dawud Razavi, Yaqub Salimi, Kefayati, Said Torabian und Amiri. Den ArbeiterInnen wurde erklärt, die Situation von Mansur Assalnou sei noch unklar, aber der Entlassungsbefehl für diese 6 sei schon erlassen.

Die Familien der ArbeiterInnen haben für den Fall der Nichtfreilassung der Gefangenen einen großen Protest gemeinsam mit den Beschäftigten angekündigt.

Die ArbeiterInnen haben erklärt, dass sie vor der Freilassung ihrer Kollegen an keiner Verhandlung teilnehmen. Es waren vorher für den kommenden Donnertag Verhandlungen mit dem Bürgermeister von Teheran, Qalibaf, vereinbart worden.

Der Werkschutz der Vahed-Gesellschaft versucht den ArbeiterInnen etwas anzuhängen. Aber das Zusammenstehen und die Standhaftigkeit der ArbeiterInnen sowie die breite Unterstützung aus der Bevölkerung und den Familien erzeugen einen enormen Druck gegen die Islamische Republik.

Es wird weiterhin zur Unterstützung auch der anderen sofortigen Forderungen der ArbeiterInnen aufgerufen, wie: Das Recht auf Bildung eigenständiger ArbeiterInnen-Oragnisationen, Lohnerhöhung, Kollektivverträge, Tarifgruppen, Wohnungen für die Beschäftigten, Versicherung, Bezahlung der Überstunden vom letzten Jahr.

Es gibt auch internationale Solidaritätserklärungen mit den Vahed-KollegInnen und Proteste gegen die iranische Regierung. Ein Beispiel dafür ist der scharfe Protestbrief des Internationalen Bunds freier Gewerkschaften (ICFTU) an den Präsidenten der Islamischen Republik- im englischen Originaltext im Anhang zu sehen.

27.12.2005
Reza Nouri
Für das Internationale Arbeitersolidaritätskomitee der
Arbeiterkommunistischen Partei Irans

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadjinejad,
President of the Republic
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: + 98-21-6648.06.65 or: + 98 21 649 5880

TUR/JK 26 December 2005

Dear Mr. President,

Arrests of trade union leaders at Sherkat-e Vahed (Tehran Bus Company) On behalf of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the 155 million workers which it represents through its 236 affiliated organisations in 154 countries and territories, I write to you to express my extreme concern about the arrests in Tehran on 22 December 2005 of Mr. Mansour Osanloo, the leader of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (“Sherkat-e Vahed”), as well as thirteen other members of this trade union, identified as follows: Ebrahim Madadi, Mansour Hayat-Qeybi, Abbas Nazhand Koodaki, RezaTarazi, Ali Zadhoseyn, Qlamreza Mirza’I, Akbar Ya’qoubi, Reza Bour Bour, Hamid Reza Reza’i Far, Javad Kefayati, Seyyed Javad Seyyedvand and Morteza Kamsari.According to our information, the above-mentioned trade unionists were detained on 22 December at 6:00 a.m. by agents of the Intelligence Ministry and transferred to an undisclosed location. They were reportedly charged with “illegal trade union” and “turbulence”. It is my understanding that the arrest warrant was ordered by Judge Mortazavi, Tehran’s Attorney General. According to subsequent reports, they may have been detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, known for decades as an infamous detention and torture centre for political prisoners.

In reaction to these arrests, the trade union called for a bus transport strike on Sunday 25 December, which reportedly brought traffic in central Tehran to a halt. In addition to demands for the release of those detained, the trade union also issued demands for an increase in wages for the company’s workers. It has since been reported that most of those detained on 22 December were released shortly after the beginning of the bus drivers’ strike, although Mr. Mansour Osanloo remained in detention.

However, additional reports suggest that more trade unionists have been arrested in the meantime. Hence, we are extremely concerned about fresh reports that 17 additional Sherkat-e Vahed trade unionists have been detained after the 22nd December. They are Board members er Golami, Dawood Razavi, Saeed Torabian and Yagoub Salimi, as well as union members Reza Shahabi, Amir Takhiri, Sadeg Khandan, Ali Ebrahimi, Sadeg Mohammadi, Hamid Zandi, Ali Gorbanian, Arsalan Zargarnia, Hossein Mehdikhani, Hossein Gavadi, Majid Talai and Akbari.

The ICFTU strongly condemns the arrest of workers exercising their legitimate, internationally-recognised trade union rights and demands the immediate release of all detained trade unionists, whether in Tehran or anywhere else in Iran. In this specific case, the ICFTU recalls that the Sherkat-e Vahed trade union has already suffered several attacks by your country’s security forces. On 9 May 2005, around 300 security personnel and individuals including, allegedly, members and senior leaders of your country’s official labour organisations – “Workers’ House” and the Islamic Labour Councils – reportedly attacked the meeting of the union’s Founding Committee. Mansour Osanloo, in particular, was severely injured in this attack and required hospital treatment, after which he was taken into custody for questioning. Similar attacks reportedly took place on 13 May and on 1st June, when the union’s offices, located in Tehran’s Bakery Workers’ Association’ premises, were allegedly attacked with Molotov cocktails.

In spite of this repression, the union reportedly succeeded in holding its founding General Assembly on 3rd June, to adopt its constitution and elect its leadership organs. We have been informed that 8,000 of the 17,000 workers employed by the Vahed Bus Company took part in that election.
However, between March and June 2005, at least 17 workers were fired from the Company, including Mansour Osanloo himself, while many more were transferred or demoted and others still were harassed and have undergone interrogations at the hands of the Company’s security guards.

Furthermore, on 7 September 2005, seven leaders and members of the union were arrested, including three of those detained last week (the union’s Chairperson, M. Osanloo, Deputy Chairperson Ebrahim Madadi and Abbas Najand Koodaki). They were brought to court and charged with “disturbing public order”, after which they were released on bail. They had been arrested during a protest against unpaid wages, during which bus drivers in Tehran had left their lights on while driving passengers around the city. Our earlier protests to you over these arrests have remained unanswered.

I must stress that the arrests of trade unionists on 22 December come after a long series of detentions and attacks against trade union demonstrations, rallies and strikes which have occurred in the course of 2005. I also recall that, on 9 November and on following days, five labour activists and organisers of the May Day 2004 rallies in the city of Saqez (Mahmoud Salehi, Jalal Husseini, Mohammad Abdi, Mohsen Hakimi and Borhan Divangar) were inflicted prison terms from two to five years by the Islamic court in Saqez. These sentences are now pending review in the Saqez county court.

Finally, Mr. President, I should recall that, exactly one year ago, I wrote to you in the case of our colleague from Saqez, Brother Borhan Divangar, that “the fact that the trial of Mr. Borhan Divangar started on 25 December, the date of an important holiday in many parts of the world, [had] of
course not gone unnoticed by the international labour movement”. I can only note that, once again, the Islamic Republic of Iran has chosen the exact same time of the year to significantly step up its repression of the country’s independent trade union movement. This can hardly be seen as a
coincidence and its significance is not lost on the international community. Mr. President, the ICFTU and its worldwide membership strongly condemn the continued harassment of members of the Sherkat-e Vahed trade union and of all other repressed Iranian trade unionists. The right to be a member of a trade union and the right to organise an independent labour organization are
fundamental workers’ rights, protected under the relevant Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which are binding on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your country’s Government, however, is in constant violation of these rights. I urge you to issue appropriate instructions to your country’s judicial and security authorities to immediately desist from repressing independent trade unionists and their organisations, to release Mr. Mansour Osanloo, as well as any other detained labour activists, and to drop all charges and quash sentences against the Saqez union activists.

Meanwhile, and as long as this repression persists, your Government’s hostile attitude towards Iran’s independent trade union movement will continue to tarnish your country’s international standing and to draw severe criticism from the world’s trade union community.

I look forward to your immediate and decisive action in these matters.

Yours sincerely,
General Secretary

Copies:

• Mr. Juan Somavia, Director-General, International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva
• H.E. Manoutchehr Motaki Minister of Foreign Affairs, , c/o Human Rights Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98 21 390 1999, Email: matbuat@mfa.gov
• Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Institutions in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, E-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int