Strike at Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
Workers demand freedom for Ali Nejati and payment of unpaid wages
April 7, 2009-According to the Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers, workers in Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company went on strike, today, April 7th, in protest to non-payment of their wages for the past two months and the reduction of over-time work, the arrest and detention of Mr. Ali Nejati, the president of the board of director of the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company and also for the implementation of job classification plan.
The Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers (http://komitedefa7.blogfa.com ) was formed in Iran on March 30, 2009 by numerous progressive labour and social activists.
During the strike, hundreds of workers gathered outside the main entrance to the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane factory on April 7th. The strike began at 8 AM and ended at 11 AM after the company’s management promised to pay unpaid wages within the next two days and to take other demands of workers into prompt consideration.
Latest news about Ali Nejati
The Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers reports that Ali Nejati’s wife was finally able to meet with him on March 5th after nearly one month since his arrest on March 8, 2009. In this visit, Mr. Nejati’s morale was very high; he defended Haft Tapeh workers’ union and the fact that all allegations against workers are unjust and wrong. Mr. Nejati has been detained by the Intelligence Ministry in the City of Ahwaz, Khuzistan province. Nejati as well as a number of other union activists have been persecuted and charged with "acting against national security" as a result of their labour activity and the formation of their trade union.
Free Ali Nejati now!
Release all jailed workers now!
For more information contact The Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers at [email protected]
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Amnesty International:
Release Ali Nejati, a trade unionist and prisoner of conscience
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=577
LabourStart Act Now: Iran: Drop charges against jailed union leaders
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=468
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Sample Protest Letter
I am writing to strongly protest against the arrests of Mr. Ali Nejati, the president of the board of directors of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company Workers’ Syndicate, on March 8, 2009. According to the latest news from Iran, intelligence agents raided the residence of Mr. Nejati on March 8, 2009 and arrested him. In the evening of February 28th, intelligence agents had raided the residence of Mr. Ali Nejati and searched his home and confiscated some documents related to the Syndicate.
Within recent weeks, seven other members of the board of directors of the Haft Tapeh workers’ syndicate had been arrested in following order:
February 22, 2009: Rahim Boshagh
February 28, 2009: Reza Rakhshan
March 2, 2009: Ghorban Alipour and Mohammad Heydari Mehr
March 3, 2009: Feridoun Nikoufard, Jalil Ahmadi and Nejat Dehli
All these workers, with the exception of Mr. Nejati, were released on March 5th and 7th, 2009 on bail and now await trials. These workers have been charged with "acting against national security" as a result of their labour activity and the formation of their trade union.
I condemn these attacks on an independent labour organization and its activists. I demand the immediate and unconditional freedom of all incarcerated labour activists including Mr. Ali Nejati as well as Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar, Salam Ghaderi, Khaled Asadi, and Borhan Saeedi.
I also ask the Iranian government to respect workers’ rights to organize, assemble and strike, put an end to persecution of labour activists and not to interfere in the affairs of independent workers’ organizations.
Name
Organization
Position
Send Copy of your Protest Letters to:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
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[email protected] or [email protected]
International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI)