close button
Switch to Iranwire Light?
It looks like you’re having trouble loading the content on this page. Switch to Iranwire Light instead.
News

Striking Gas Sector Workers Arrested as Labor Protests Spread

May 8, 2023
1 min read
According to Fars, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the arrested contractors worked in the Pars Energy Special Economic Zones
According to Fars, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the arrested contractors worked in the Pars Energy Special Economic Zones

Iranian authorities have arrested striking contractors working in the development of the South Pars gas fields project, local media reported on May 2, as labor strikes spread to more than 110 oil, gas and petrochemical industry sites in 14 provinces.

According to Fars, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the arrested contractors worked in the Pars Energy Special Economic Zones. 

They were charged with "numerous labor violations, anti-revolutionary calls and actions, and [participating in] strikes in industrial development projects," the report said, adding that more contractors will be summoned and arrested in the coming days.

South Pars in the Persian Gulf is the world’s largest gas field.

On April 21, the Council for Organizing Oil Contract-Workers' Protests called for a strike to demand a 79 percent increase in wages, timely payment of salaries, improved working conditions and safer work environments, among other things.

"The contractors in the oil and petrochemical industries don’t think about the workers. They only think about making more profits,” an oil industry worker tells IranWire.

A labor activist said that the contracts drawn up by the Ministry of Oil “allow contractors to violate existing laws.”

Sekhawat Asadi, the CEO of the Pars Energy Special Economic Zones, has recently threatened striking workers with replacement by a new workforce. 

The activist said such statements were part of attempts to intimidate striking workers.

He emphasized that replacing skilled workers with inexperienced ones could be very harmful for Iran’s oil and gas industry.

comments

Blinding as a Weapon

Tehran Billboards Claim Protesters Shot in Eyes Are “Liars”

May 8, 2023
1 min read
Tehran Billboards Claim Protesters Shot in Eyes Are “Liars”