Trade Unions Issue Charter Of Minimum Demands

February 16, 2023

6 min read

Trade Unions Issue Charter Of Minimum Demands

Twenty independent Iranian trade unions, feminist groups and student organizations have issued a joint charter listing their "minimum demands” amid five months of popular protests demanding fundamental economic, social and political reforms in the country.

The nationwide protests triggered by the September death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

The authorities have cracked down on the women-led protest movement, killing more than 520 people and detained over 19,000, activists say. Following unlawful detentions and biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

Below is the complete text of the charter signed by the 20 organizations:

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To the noble and free people of Iran!

On the 44th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, Iran is facing an economic, political and social crisis that has engulfed the country and a clear and achievable vision to end it is unimaginable within the existing political framework.

Therefore, the oppressed people of Iran, including freedom-loving and equality-seeking women and youths, have turned the streets of the cities across the country into the center of a historic and decisive struggle to end the existing inhumane situation.

Despite the bloody repression by the government, they have not rested for a moment for the past five months.

The fundamental protests raised today by women, students, teachers, workers, activists, artists, writers and the oppressed people of Iran in general in various parts of the country, from Kurdistan to Sistan and Baluchistan [provinces], is a protest against misogyny, gender discrimination, endless economic insecurity, labor slavery, poverty, misery, class oppression, ethnic and religious oppression, and a revolution against every form of religious and non-religious tyranny that has been imposed over the past century.

These protests have emerged from the context of large and modern social movements and the rise of an invincible generation that is determined to put an end to the history of a hundred years of backwardness and marginalization of the ideal of a modern, prosperous and free society in Iran.

After the two great revolutions in Iran's modern history, the leading social movements, including the labor movement, the movement of teachers and pensioners, the movement for equality for women, students and youth, and the movement against the death penalty, etc., have had a historical and decisive influence in shaping the political, economic and social structure of the country.

Therefore, this movement aims to end forever the formation of any power from above and be the beginning of a social, modern and human revolution to free the people from all forms of oppression, discrimination, exploitation, tyranny, and dictatorship.

We, the union and civic organizations and institutions that signed this charter, focusing on the unity and interconnection of the social movements and demands and focusing on the struggle to end the existing inhumane and destructive situation, consider the following minimum demands as the first steps to meet the demands of these fundamental protests.

The people of Iran consider that meeting these minimum demands is the only way to build a new, modern and humane society in the country, and we ask all the noble people who have freedom, equality, and liberation in their hearts, from factories to universities, schools, and neighborhoods to raise the flag of these minimum demands.

1- Immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, prohibition of criminalizing political, union, and civil activities, and public trials for those responsible for suppressing popular protests.

2- Unconditional freedom of opinion, expression, thought, [political] parties, local and national trade unions, popular organizations, gatherings, strikes, marches, social networks and the media.

3- Immediate cancellation of the issuance and execution of any type of death penalty and retribution, and prohibition of any type of mental and physical torture.

4- Immediate and full equality of rights between women men in all political, economic, social, cultural and family spheres, unconditional abolition of discriminatory laws against sexual and gender relations and tendencies, recognition of the rainbow society LGBTQIA+, decriminalization of all gender relations and tendencies, unconditional adherence to all women's rights over their bodies and destiny and preventing patriarchal control.

5- Religion is a private matter of the individuals and should not interfere in the political, economic, social, and cultural destiny and laws of the country.

6- Ensure work safety, job security and an immediate increase in the salaries of workers, teachers and employees, whether they are still active or retired, with the involvement and agreement of elected union representatives.

7- Abolish laws and any behavior based on ethnic or religious discrimination and oppression, establish appropriate supporting infrastructures as well as the fair and equal distribution of government resources for the growth of culture and art in all regions of the country and provide the necessary and equal facilities for the learning and teaching of all languages used in society.

8- Limit the influence of the government and grant people the right to interfere in local and national councils directly and permanently. Dismissing any government or non-government official by voters at any time should be among the voters’ fundamental rights.

9- Confiscate the properties of the individuals and governmental, semi-governmental and private institutions that have taken the property and social wealth of the Iranian people hostage through direct looting or government rent. The wealth obtained from these confiscations should be immediately used to modernize and reconstruct education, pension funds, the environment, and the needs of the regions and Iranians who have been deprived and had fewer facilities under the regimes of the Islamic Republic and the monarchy.

10- End environmental destruction, implement policies to revive the environmental infrastructure that has been destroyed over the past hundred years and publicize the natural areas that have been privatized (such as pastures, beaches, forests, and foothills), depriving the people’s rights on them.

11- Prohibit children's work and provide their education, regardless of their families’ economic and social status. Establish public welfare through unemployment insurance and strong social security systems for all the people who are of the legal age to work or are unable to work. Additionally, provide free education and healthcare for all the people.

12- Normalize foreign relations at the highest levels with all the countries in the world, based on fair relations and mutual respect, ban the acquisition of nuclear weapons, and strive for world peace.

In our opinion, the above minimum demands can be achieved immediately, given the country’s potential and actual underground wealth, the presence of informed and capable people and a generation of young people who are motivated to enjoy a happy, free, and prosperous life.

The demands presented in this charter include the general demands of our signatories, and, obviously, we will provide more detail on these demands as we continue our struggle and solidarity.

The signatories include:

The Coordinating Council of Iran's Teachers Trade Unions

The Free Union of Iran Workers

The Union of Free Students

The Center for Human Rights Defenders

The Syndicate of Workers of Nishekar Heft Tepeh Company

The Organization Council of Oil Contractual Workers’ Protests

Iran Cultural House (Khafa)

Bidarzani

The Call of Iranian Women

The Independent Voice of Ahvaz National Steel Group Workers

The Labor Rights Defenders Center