President Khatami:

I am writing on behalf of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), an organization representing poor and homeless people in the City of Toronto, Canada.

We have learned of the witholding of wages owed to workers at the Behshahr Chintz-Making factory in Iran. We are aware of the refusal of your Government to meet the just demands of these workers in this matter. We know of the intimidation and repression they have faced. We are also aware that this appalling behaviour is by no means untypical of your regime and is part of a general pattern of denying working people their basic rights including the right to organize.

Please be aware that there is wide international attention to what is going on in Iran and to the mistreatment of these particular workers. Your Government is out to create an image on the world scale of enlightenment and progress that is undermined by your utter disregard for the most basic standards for workers in your Country. We, for our part, will spare no effort to expose this ugly disparity and to express our solidarity with those who resist your Government.

Yours truly,

John Clarke, Organizer,
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty