This is the latest in a series of demonstrations that these and other workers have been holding over the past year to demand their back wages. They have demonstrated in front of various ministries, rallied at President Mohammad Khatami's office, and at times have blocked the highway linking Tehran to the nearby industrial town of Karaj.

After the 1979 Iranian revolution, in which working people mobilized in their millions, overthrowing the U.S.-backed shah and winning a number of social and political gains, these factories were for a brief period controlled by workers. Afterward they were run by various state ministries or bonyads (foundations). In recent years they were sold off to private investors, at which point workers began having trouble collecting their wages. Some of the new owners are stripping the factories of machinery and other material to sell off rather than investing capital to run production.

Shams Elahi, a worker at Jamco, told ISNA, the Iranian Students News Agency, that they have not been paid for 11 months. "During the [1980-88 Iran-Iraq] war, the owner of this factory was on the other side of the river," he said, meaning that he was outside the country. "Now that he has returned, they let him take over the factory--but why?" he asked indignantly.

After Jamco was privatized in 1994, the bosses began importing cloth and selling it on the black market, said Mirvali, a representative of workers at the plant, according to the Tehran daily Kayhan. For this they were sentenced to three and a half years in prison. But despite that the factory was returned back to them, Mirvali said.

The Shadanpoor shoe factory, with 475 workers, has been taken over by Rasekh Afshar, son of the man who owned the factory before the 1979 revolution. Yashai, a worker at Shadanpoor, told ISNA, "We fought for years in revolution and in war. Two of my brothers were martyred.... [Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini] always warned us to be vigilant so the revolution would not get taken over by alien influences, but unfortunately that has happened now. Why are working people, longtime fighters of the revolution, being treated this way?"

Yashai added, "We the fighters of yesterday have become the refugees of today. Our own brothers pull guns on us, and fire in the air [to scatter us]."

A woman worker with 15 years on the job in Shadanpoor rushed to the ISNA reporter to be sure the press heard her grievance against the authorities. She said, "They are only saying freedom of speech, but what is the use if our voices are not heard anywhere. And is it right that women toilers are beaten up by security forces right here?"

Workers were referring to the attack on demonstrators that took place in front of Majles that day.

In their attempt to get into the Majles to talk to the representatives, workers reportedly broke the building's railing and part of its door. The riot police fired in the air, sprayed the demonstrators with tear gas, and attacked them. Eight workers were injured.

Three representatives of the workers were able to meet with Mehdi Karrubi, the Majles speaker. Ali Taali, director of the political police in Tehran province, told a press conference that Karrubi had assigned four commissions to investigate the workers' situation and propose a solution. He acknowledged that the incident in front of Majles was the result of the harsh conditions workers in the country are facing. No one was arrested, he said. ISNA reported that the news agency's photographer and reporter were detained briefly and were released after their film was confiscated by security forces.

Kayhan reported July 16 that at a meeting with Karrubi and members of Majles it was decided, as a temporary measure, to find a way to channel funds for the payment of back wages to workers at Jamco and Shadanpoor. Workers dispersed after two Majles representatives informed them of this decision, the paper said.

Abolghasem Sarhadizadeh, general secretary of the Islamic Labor Party and a member of Majles, said in an interview with ISNA, "In previous years we never faced a labor crisis such as the one we face today. Only during the [Iran-Iraq] war, when the oil prices plummeted, did such a crisis erupt, but it rapidly came under control with the help of state managers. Today we have a crisis despite having capital and raw material."

Sarhadizadeh expressed opposition to the government's "open door" policy of encouraging imports. "So long as internal production is stagnating and products are not selling, and so long as we have not prepared ourselves to be able to join the world economy, it doesn't make sense to open the borders for imports of commodities," he stated.

With the loosening of the virtual monopoly of foreign trade established after the revolution, the unequal terms of trade between Iran and imperialist countries--which enjoy higher productivity--have led to a growing plunder of Iran's national resources, a situation faced by all semicolonial nations.

Majles representative Gahraman Bahrami Hassanabadi also noted that "the labor crisis is intensifying." Layoffs and nonpayment of wages weigh heavy on workers, he said, and "the hiring of temporary workers is the biggest source of exploitation of workers, pushing them to the brink of devastation." Official statistics put the unemployment rate at 15 percent, but unofficial estimates cite higher figures.

Another Majles representative, Soheila Jolodarzadeh, warned that "the labor crisis is not taking place at a particular political juncture, but it can have political consequences." She joined with those who believe that the large number of imports are due to illegal smuggling. "If the smuggling of textiles and household goods were prevented, then those industries would not go bankrupt."

In June workers from the Cheet-e-rey textile factory staged a protest in front of Majles demanding back pay. Their ranks increased to 1,000 when they were joined by workers from the Shadanpoor plant with the same demands. At that time, demonstrators were not attacked and, according to press reports, workers at Cheet-e-rey won their wage demands.  
 
 
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