Tehran's Collective Bus drivers
organized, yesterday, a symbolic
protest action by setting on their
head lights during the day
time. Most buses were decorated
with placards calling for the
creation of 'independent' unions and
the immediate release of several
arrested bus drivers.
Militiamen were seen trying to stop
the buses and detaching the
placards. But most users and Tehrani
residents were seen supporting the
drivers by showing the 'V' (Victory)
sign or their rised fists.
The drivers' symbolic action
coincided, astonishingly, with the
seventieth anniversary of the
"Iranian Women's Emancipation Law"
which was adopted by the former
Iranian regime, in 1935, and banned
by the Islamic republic in 1979.
Many residents and users, especially
among females, were seen considering
the bus drivers move as also a
hidden support for the message of
modernism, equality and secularism
of the banned law.
Several other drivers were arrested
following the yesterday's action
despite all prior calls made by most
of the world's unions in favor of
Iranian workers and employees'
rights which are disregarded by the
theocratic system.