Merhdad Valipour
Up to 500 bus drivers in Iran's capital were arrested on January 27 in an attempt by the Iranian authorities to pre-empt strike action called for January 28 by the 9000-member Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. Hundreds more union members were arrested on January 28, with most also taken to Evin Prison.
According to Amnesty International, while 30-50 workers have since been released, hundreds are still being detained without charge or trial. Some have been beaten and in some cases, their wives and children have reportedly been beaten during raids on their homes.
The union had planned the strike to demand the release of its leader, Mansour Ossanlu, who has been detained without charge or trial since December 22; the introduction of collective bargaining; and for the bus company, which is run by the Tehran city government, to grant a pay increase.
On December 22, the bus drivers refused to collect fares. Over the following week, hundreds of bus drivers in Tehran, including several union organisers, were arrested and charged with attempting to disturb the public order through industrial action and being members of an illegal organisation.
These charges have no legal basis under Iran's labour code and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They also contravene International Labour Organisation conventions of which Iran is a signatory.
In a statement issued on January 24, the bus drivers' union called for international union support for their demands for the immediate release of Osanlou, the dropping of all charges against the union's members and recognition by the Iranian authorities of the drivers' right to have a trade union.
Emails of protest should be sent to Mahmoud Ahmadjinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran at < dr-A HREF="mailto:ahmadinejad@president.ir"><ahmadinejad@president.ir>.
From Green Left Weekly, February 15, 2006.
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