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/JS                                                                                                                  30 January 2006

Dear Mr. President,

 

Several hundred unionists and members of their family arrested at Sherkate Vahed (Tehran Bus Company)

 

            I have written to you repeatedly concerning the heavy repression of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (“Sherkate Vahed”) (the Syndicate). Although I have not yet received any single reply to my previous letters, I now have to write you again to protest in the strongest possible terms against the latest wave of arrests, which has affected several hundred Sherkate Vahed unionists and their relatives, as well as against the arrest of eight members of the Syndicate’s Executive Board, and the continued detention of its leader, our colleague Mansour Osanloo.

 

            The ICFTU has been informed that on 24 January the Syndicate called for strike action to take place on 28 January, in order to demand the release of Mansour Osanloo, recognition of the union, and the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement at the bus company.

 

            On 25 January members of the Executive Board held a meeting with the CEO of Vahed Bus Company, Mr. Mohammad Ahmadi Bafandeh, who asked them not to give interviews to foreign press reporters, as it could “hurt the government”. Furthermore, he informed them that their leader, Mr. Osanloo, would not be released because the government wanted to “show that the arrest was right in the first place” (!). The Board members of the Syndicate informed him of their demands, and of their intent to go ahead with the strike if their demands were not met, despite the fact that eight among them had been summoned to appear in court the following day.

 

            On 26 January Ebrahim Madadi, the Deputy Director of the Syndicate, Abbas Najand Koodaki, Naser Gholami, Davood Rezaei, Ali Zadeh Hosseini, Saeed Torabian, Mansoor Hayat-Gheibi, and Abdulreza Tarazi, all members of the Syndicate’s Executive Board, went to the Revolutionary Court. They never returned and, according to our information, are now detained in Evin Prison, where Mansour Osanloo is still being held in a high security section, without access to a lawyer or medical care, despite his poor health condition. Moreover, his wife has only been allowed to visit him twice, briefly, during his long detention.

  

            Despite these arrests, and the arrest of five more Vahed workers, Mahmood Hazhirie, Naser Gholami, Khani, Gholam Khosh Maram and Moradvand, the Syndicate went ahead with the strike on 28 January. Security forces used tear gas, batons and even threatened to shoot the strikers in order to crush the strike. Police arrested several hundred union members during the strike, and several were arrested at their homes. The ICFTU has received reports of figures varying from 400 to 1300 arrested workers. Whatever the exact number, several hundred detentions have undoubtedly taken place, which is in any event a completely disproportionate and unacceptable response to legitimate industrial action.

 

            Many workers were forced by security forces to continue work, while many others were beaten up. About 30 workers reportedly sustained serious injuries and required medical attention. Among those arrested are the majority of the Syndicate’s Executive Board members. In some cases, their relatives (wives and children) were also arrested. The wife and two daughters of Mr. Salimi, a substitute member of the Executive Board, were brutally arrested at home and were only released on condition that he surrender to the authorities. All those detained have reportedly been transferred to Evin Prison for interrogation. Some of the arrested workers went on hunger strike.

 

            During the strike, Government and City officials deployed extra busses and drivers to prevent the strike from halting traffic and, along with management, they stated that all the arrested workers would be fired. The Mayor of Tehran, Mr. Ghalibaf, a former top military official, who had previously made some promises to the Syndicate (all unfulfilled), has now reportedly told journalists that the Syndicate was “illegal”. There were also reports that arrested workers were forced to sign a statement of penitence in order to keep their job.

 

            The ICFTU has been informed that a minority of arrested workers and all the detained relatives have now been released. However, several hundred workers are still held in Evin Prison.

 

            The ICFTU is very concerned at this escalation of the conflict at the Vahed Bus Company, and believes that violent repression of legitimate workers’ demands is totally unacceptable. Proper social dialogue - starting with recognition of the union and collective bargaining in good faith - is the only means to ensure lasting social peace.  

 

            We further remain concerned that contacts with foreign reporters are discouraged, and that management and authorities try to prevent workers from making their demands publicly known and calling for international solidarity, which are fundamental trade union rights. 

 

            The continued harassment of Syndicate leaders and members as well as the severe sentences handed down last year in the Saqez trials indicate that the Government of Iran is still not prepared to meet its international obligations as a member of the ILO, in particular with respect to the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining. However, I urge you once more to issue appropriate instructions to your country’s judicial and security authorities to immediately release Mr. Mansour Osanloo, as well as the many hundred other unionists who are now detained, and to drop all charges against labour activists and quash sentences against the Saqez union activists.

            The severe repression of trade unionists calling for legitimate workers’ rights has already deeply tarnished the image of your country among the international trade union community. We will continue to monitor respect of fundamental workers’ rights in Iran. And we will also bring the above violations of core labour standards to the attention of the ILO.

 

            In the meantime, 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, Geneva

-          Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva

-          Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Brussels