سمینار روز جهانی کارگر ۲۰۲۱

برنامه کامل سمینار روز جهانی کارگر ۲۰۲۱ با حضور فعالین کارگری از اقصی نقاط جهان.
تشکیلات خارج کشور حزب حکمتیست (خط رسمی)

سخنرانان کنفرانس:

ابو وطن – رئیس فدراسیون سراسری اتحادیه های کارگران در عراق
ولکان گموش – فعال جنبش کارگری، دانشجویی و زنان (اس ای پی)

تینان لیبرت – از اتحادیه کارگران برق کمسیون ترانزیت تورونتو کانادا– شعبه ۲

مهدی توپچی – فعال کارگری - ایران

راجر سیلورمن – شبکه بین المللی کارگران

مانوس سکوفگلو – اتحادیه تکنسین های یونان

نور احمد – فعال کارگری - افغانستان

چاتورا گوناتیلکا – سوسیالیست خط مقدم – سریلانکا

مهدی رسول – از بنیانگذارن اتحادیه كارگران ساختمانی – كردستان عراق

امان کفا – دبیر تشکیلات خارج حزب حکمتیست (خط رسمی)

* علت تغییر سخنران از ترکیه: ساعاتی قبل از جلسه دریا قوجا - فعال جنبش دانشجویی و زنان (اس ای پی) توسط پلیس ترکیه در تظاهرات اول ماه مه دستگیر میشوند.

متن برخی سخنرانی ها:

سخنان مهدی رسول سردبیر نشریه "صدای کارگر"

در پانل کارگری به مناسبت اول مه 2021- کردستان عراق

با سلام و تشکر از سازمان دهندگان این پانل، اول مه به شما و همه کارگران مبارک باد!

بحث من در باره شرایط کار و زندگی و مبارزات کارگران کردستان عراق است

در این فرصت کوتاه تنها می توانم تصویری عمومی از جنبه های مختلف کار و زندگی و اعتراضات کارگری برای شما ترسیم کنم.

بعنوان مقدمه ، می خواهم خاطرنشان کنم که کردستان عراق پس از سرنگونی رژیم بعث و ایجاد دولت فدرال و تشکیل حکومت جدید احزاب ناسیونالیست کرد، به مرحله جدیدی قدم گذاشت. دوره ای که سرمایه داری در کردستان در تمام تار و پود جامعه تنیده شد. صدها پروژه بعنوان زیرساخت اقتصادی در راستای پاسخ به نیازهای سرمایه راه اندازی شد. از جمله پروژه جاده سازی، پل سازی، ایجاد تونل ها و ساختمان سازی و اکتشاف نفت و گاز. همچنین کارخانه سیمان، گچ، ذوب آهن، پالایشگاه، پتروشیمی و صدها کارگاه کوچک و متوسط در عرصه تولید مواد خوراکی و لوازم خانه و...

در این رابطه، علاوه بر شرکت ها و سرمایه داران داخلی، صدها کمپانی خارجی هم برای سرمایه گذاری به کردستان عراق سرازیر شدند. در نتیجه، شهرها بزرگ تر و پرجمعیت شدند و طبقه کارگر کردستان رشد وسیع و گسترده ی یافت.

موج گستردگی و رشد سرمایه داری در کردستان تا سال 2013 ادامه یافت و بعد از آن این رونق متوقف و دچار بحران اقتصادی شد. بویژه عروج داعش و جنگ امریکا و متحدینش در موصل شرایط را تماما تغییر داد. قیمت نفت در بازارهای جهان پایین آمد. رابطه دولت اقلیم با حکومت مرکزی بهم خورد. این شرایط نارضایتی عمومی مردم شهرها را به دنبال داشت. این اوضاع با تشدید بحران اقتصادی جهان در دوره پاندمی کرونا، احزاب دولت اقلیم را بلحاظ سیاسی و اقتصادی به بن بست رساند. این احزاب، ناتوان از پاسخ به خواستهای اقتصادی مردم، خود دچار بحران و بن بست سیاسی شدند. این تغییرات شرایط کار و زندگی کارگران کردستان را بدتر و در تنگنا قرار داد بطوری که به یقین میگویم که از سال 2014 تا امروز کارگران کردستان در سخت ترین شرایط زندگی و گرسنگی بسر می برند. زندگی ای که به بردگی شباهت دارد تا کارگر مزدی. در اینجا می خواهم به جنبه های اساسی وضعیت کارگران کردستان بپردازم.

اول- شرایط کار کارگران

1- بر اساس آمار دولتی، از سال 2007 تا 2014 بیست و سه هزار کمپانی ثبت شده اند. از این تعداد نوزده هزار و هشتصد و پنجاه و سه شرکت داخلی و متعلق به سرمایه داران کردستان و سه هزار و سیصد و پنجاه و هفت شرکت هم خارجی اند. علاوه بر این ها، هشت هزار کمپانی بدون هویت واقعی هم ثبت شده است. شرکت های بسیار وسیع سرمایه گذاری در عرصه های مختلف بویژه ساخت و ساز و نیازمندیهای اولیه ی مردم در راستای سیاست احزاب حاکم در جهت گسترش بازار آزاد و خصوصی کردن همه ی بخش های تولید و خدمات و بازرگانی و حمل و نقل قرار داشته اند.

2- در حدود 4500 کمپانی، بیش از 320 هزار کارگر کار می کنند. دستمزد ماهانه کارگران بین 200 تا 250 دلار است و در 30 سال اخیر این دستمزد افزایش نیافته است.

3- با کارگران قرارداد موقتی امضا می شود. کارگران در تعیین قرارداد هیچ دخالتی ندارند. کارگران بخش عمومی هیچگونه امتیازی ندارند و سالها است استخدام کارگر در این بخش پایان یافته است.

4- ساعت کار روزانه رسما 8 ساعت اعلام شده است اما به دلیل کار کنتراتی و قطعه کاری و همچنین قرارداد موقت، کارگران روزانه 10 تا 11 ساعت کار می کنند. تعطیلی سالانه و مرخصی اوقات مریضی کارگر با دستمزد، در اکثر مراکز کار لغو شده است.

5- ده ها هزار کارگر بیکار هستند. آمار بیکاری حدود 40 درصد برآورد شده است. اکثر کارگران بیکار تحصیل کرده دانشگاه هستند. بیکاری در دوره کرونا افزایش یافته است.

6- سیستم بیمه های اجتماعی در کردستان وجود ندارد. کارگران به بهانه این که کارفرماهایشان موقتی اند از جمله کارگران ساختمان سازی، کارگران رستوران ها و هتل و مجتمع های تجاری، کارگران کشاورزی و فصلی، از بیمه ها از جمله بیمه بازنشستگی محروم اند.

7- در کردستان قانون کار وجود ندارد. قانون کار رژیم سابق که از طرف حکومت عراق دستکاری شده در کردستان اجرا نمی شود. کارفرماها هر طور به نفعشان است کارگران را بکار می گیرند.

8- کارگران کردستان آزادی اعتصاب و سازمان دادن تشکل کارگری ندارند. هر گونه ابراز نارضایتی از دستمزد کم و ساعت کار طولانی و بیحقوقی دیگر، ممنوع است. تشکل های مستقل کارگری اجازه فعالیت ندارند. تنها اتحادیه سندیکاهای وابسته به احزاب حاکم اجازه دارند. این سندیکاها متعلق به دوران رژیم سابق و اکنون تحت فرمان احزاب حاکم اند و هیچ منفعتی از کارگران رانمایندگی نمی کنند.

9- ایمنی محیط کار وجود ندارد. تنها در 4 ماه اخیر 32 کارگر قربانی نا امنی محیط کار شده اند. بیشترین قربانیان، کارگران ساختمان هستند. هر روز بر تعداد صانحه ی دلخراش کار افزوده می شود.

10- در کردستان تنها یک دادگاه کار وجود دارد که آن هم نقشی ایفا نمی کند. صاحبان کمپانی ها و کارفرمایان، کارگران را به بهانه های مختلف از مزد و اضافه کاریشان بعنوان جریمه کم و هر وقت خواستند کارگر را اخراج می کنند.

11- زنان کارگر بیحقوق ترین بخش کارگری هستند. فرصت کار برای زنان نادر است. زنان کارگراز سوء استفاده ی کارفرماها و تحقیر و آزار جنسی در امان نیستند.

دوم – سیاست و رفتار حاکمیت نسبت به کارگران

1- دولت اقلیم سیاست نئولیبرالیسم را تماما پیروی کرده و از هر گونه مسوولیت نسبت به کارگران و حقوق شان شانه خالی کرده است. رابطه کار و سرمایه را به دست بازار کار سپرده و در این رابطه هم دست کارفرماها را برای هر چه ارزان تر کردن کار و بیحقوق کردن کارگران، باز گذاشته است. کارگران از تشکل مستقل خود محروم و اعتصاب شان ممنوع است. ساعت کار طولانی و مزد کم و ملغی کردن همه ی امتیازات سابق نصیب کارگران در دولت اقلیم است.

2- در کردستان بین 40 تا 50 هزار کارگر مهاجر وجود دارد که بخشی از آنها از جانب کمپانی ها و بصورت قانونی از کشورهای نپال، فیلیپین، بنگلادش ...، آورده شده و در بخش خدمات کار می کنند. بخشی هم غیرقانونی به کردستان آمده اند. بخش دیگر کارگران از کردستان ایران می آیند و یا کارگران عرب زبان هستند که از شرایط جنگ سوریه و دیگر شهرهای عراق گریخته اند.

با کارگران مهاجر به شدت غیر انسانی رفتار میشود. کارگران مهاجر نسبت به کارگران بومی شرایط سخت تری دارند. علاوه بر بیحقوقی محض، گاها از جانب نهادهای امنیتی و مرزی جریمه می شوند و یا زندانی می گردند. این کارگران از جانب بخش عقبمانده جامعه تحقیر می شوند و بعضا آن ها را عامل بیکاری در کردستان می دانند. کارفرماها هم از کارگران مهاجر برای رقابت با دیگر بخش های کارگری و تشدید بیحقوقی آنها استفاده می کنند.

3- از آنجا که بخش زیادی از شرکت ها و کارفرمایان از اعضا و مسوولین و رهبران احزاب حاکم هستند، در نتیجه دولت اقلیم در بیحقوق کردن کارگران و باز گذاشتن دست کارفرماها علیه کارگران، مستقیما نقش دارد. بعلاوه احزاب حاکم با گرفتن مالیات و افزایش قیمت آب و برق و بهداشت و درمان، فقر بیش از حدی را به کارگران و زحمتکشان کردستان تحمیل کرده است.

4- دولت اقلیم به بهانه تعدیل و کم کردن نیروی بنگاه ها ونهادهای دولتی، بیکاری کارگران را افزایش داده و بار بحران اقتصادی را بر دوش کارگران و مزد و حقوق بگیران انداخته است. به بهانه ارزان شدن نرخ نفت و اختلاف با حکومت مرکزی بر سر تقسیم بودجه، از سال 2014 تا کنون بخشی از حقوق کارمندان را پرداخت نکرده و همچنین، میزان 31 درصد ازحقوق ها را کم کرده است. این همزمان است با افزایش بهای خدمات اجتماعی، آب و برق و بهداشت و درمان و آموزش و سپردن این خدمات به بخش خصوصی. هم اکنون هزاران کارگر محیط زیست بدلیل مشکلاتی که شهرداری ها بوجود آورده و مدام وعده می دهند، حقوق هایشان را پرداخت نکرده و یا حقوق ها دو ماه یک بار پرداخت می شود.

سوم- سیاست های دولت در زمان کرونا و تاثیر آن بر کار و زندگی کارگران

1- همزمان با شیوع پاندمی، حکومت با قرنطینه در کارگاه و پروژه های اقتصادی کوچک و متوسط، هیچ وظیفه ای نسبت به بیکار شدن کارگران و پرداخت هزینه زندگی آن ها و نیازمندیهای سلامتی و بهداشت را برعهده نگرفت.

2- علاوه بر گسترش بیکاری و بیحقوقی در این دوره، همه نیازمندیهای مربوط به حفظ سلامت از بیماری و حفاظت از خود را بر دوش کارگران و مردم زحمتکش انداخته است. بی مسوولیتی حاکمیت موجب ناتوانی مردم در تامین نیازمندیهای اساسی شان شده و به گرسنگی محض دچار کرده است.

3- در جریان قرنطینه، کارخانه های بزرگ مثل شرکت نفت، کارخانه سیمان، فولاد و پالایشگاه ها تعطیل نشدند و کارگران را بدون توجه به سلامتی شان بزور به کار گرفته و حتی مدت استراحت یک ساعته را به نیم ساعت تقلیل داده و سلف سرویس ها را بسته و کارگران را به تهیه و تامین خوراکی از جیب خودشان مجبور کردند.

4- عدم پرداخت حقوق ها، کم کردن حقوق و گرانی مایحتاج عمومی به دلیل کاهش نرخ دینار، زندگی مردم را کاملا با خطر گرسنگی محض مواجه کرده است.

چهارم- نارضایتی، اعتراض و مبارزه کارگران

کارگران در مقابل شرایط سخت و دشوار زندگی تحمیلی ساکت ننشسته و در بخش عمومی و دولتی به شیوه های مختلف از جمله بایکوت کار، نوشتن نامه های اعتراضی، بستن کنگره های خبرنگاران و روزنامه نویسان تا تظاهرات و در بخش خصوصی با اعتصاب و طرح مطالبات خود به کمپانی ها و کارفرماها، اعتراض و نارضاتی خود را ابراز کرده اند. هر چند این اعتراضات با فواصل و گاه بگاه بوده است. نارضایتی و اعتراض کارگران کردستان در محل کار کم تر بوده است به این دلیل که کارگران با مجازات و اخراج روبرو می شوند.

اصلی ترین خواست این اعتراضات بر علیه عدم پرداخت و یا کم کردن حقوق ها بوده است. همچنین مطالبه کار و استخدام و رفع موانع ازجمله خواستهای کارگران است.

در یک دهه اخیر خیابان های شهرهای کردستان محل تجمع و تظاهرات توده های وسیع مردم زحمتکش علیه سیاستهای ضد کارگری و ضد مردمی احزاب حاکم بوده است. کارگران و مردم زحمتکش خواستار ختم پایمال شدن حقوق و آزادیهایشان هستند. احزاب حاکم هر بار با زبان سلاح به جنگ مردم می آیند و ما تا کنون قربانی های زیادی داده ایم. احزاب ناسیونالیست کرد با تصرف قدرت و ثروت و به ضرب اسلحه و حمایت دولتهای منطقه تا کنون به حیاتشان ادامه داده و توازن قوا را به نفع خود نگه داشته اند.

مبارزات کارگران و مردم ادامه دارد و زحمتکشان کردستان به این نتیجه رسیده اند که تنها با خاتمه دادن به قدرت احزاب بورژوایی و میلیشیایشان و انتقال قدرت به توده های کارگر و زحمتکش مردم کردستان به آسایش و رفاه و آزادی می رسند.

در خاتمه، تاکید می کنم که اول مه روز جهانی کارگران و همبستگی انترناسیونالیستی طبقه کارگر است. کارگران کردستان در مبارزه علیه سرمایه داران و حاکمان دولت اقلیم، بیشتر از همیشه به همبستگی هم طبقه ای های خود در منطقه و جهان نیاز دارند. دستهایمان را در دست هم بگذاریم و با حمایت طبقه کارگر بین المللی اتحاد طبقاتیمان را مستحکم کنیم.

زنده باد اول مه روز جهانی کارگران !

مهدی رسول – سردبیر نشریه "صدای کارگر" کردستان عراق

* ترجمه کوردی به فارسی

Mehdi Rasoul

Chief editor of “The Worker’s Voice” publication

Workers’ panel in commemoration of 1 May 2021- Iraqi Kurdistan

(Speech translated in English for May Day Celebration)

Hello ladies and gentlemen and thanks to the organisers of this panel and congratulations on the 1 May to you and all workers.

I will be talking about the situation of workers in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and their lives and struggles.

In this short opportunity that I have, I will only be able to sketch a general picture of the different aspects of the workers’ lives, work and struggles.

As introduction I’d like to emphasise that the Iraqi Kurdistan entered a new phase after the overthrowing of the Ba’th Regime and the establishment of a federal government, and the formation of a new government of the Kurdish nationalist parties. An era in which Kurdish capitalism got intertwined in the society. Many projects were carried out as infrastructure for their capitalistic needs, such as road construction, bridges, tunnels, buildings and oil and gas fracking, as well as cement, plaster and steel plants, oil refinery plant, petrochemical plants and hundreds of small and medium scale production lines for food and household apparatus. Many foreign companies, alongside regional companies and investors, rushed into the Iraqi Kurdistan. As a result cities got bigger and more populated and, consequently, the workers’ population also increased. This wave of growth of capitalism in Kurdistan lasted until 2013 and then was hit by a crisis and stopped. Especially the emergence of ISIS and the US and its allies’ war in Mosul changed the whole situation. Oil prices plunged in the global markets. Tensions increased between the Kurdistan Region and the central government. And these circumstances caused public protests in cities and, with Corona pandemic intensifying the global economic crisis, the Kurdistan government’s parties were practically caught in an impasse. These parties, who were unable to answer people’s demands, were already in a political crisis and dead-end. These changes deteriorated the workers’ lives and working conditions in Kurdistan and put them under pressure, so that, I daresay, the workers in Kurdistan have been under the harshest conditions and hunger since 2014. A life that looks more like slavery than wage labour. Here I’d like to point out some basic aspects of workers’ situation in the Kurdistan Region.

Workers’ working conditions
According to the governmental statistics, there were 23,000 companies registered in the years between 2007 and 2014. Among these, 19,653 companies belonged to the local investors and 3,357 companies were registered by foreign citizens. Moreover, there were 8,000 companies registered, without a real identity! Huge companies investing in different domains, especially construction and people’s basic needs, have always been in keeping with the ruling parties’ policies to expand the free market and privatising all sectors, such as production, services, commerce and transportation.
More than 320 thousand workers work in around 4,500 companies. Their wages is something between 200 to 250 $ (a month) and has not changed in the last 30 years!
Workers have to sign temporary contracts. They have no say in the contents of the contract. Public workers have no privileges and there have been no more employments in this sector.
Officially, workers should work 8 hours a day, but, due to temporary contracts and contractual works, they work effectively 10 to 11 hours a day! Annual vacation and sick leaves have been abolished in many places.
Tens of thousands of workers are unemployed. Unemployment rate is estimated to be 40%. Most of the unemployed workers are university graduates. Unemployment has increased during the Corona crisis.
Social security insurance doesn’t exist in Kurdistan. Workers, especially in construction, hospitality businesses, shopping centres, seasonal and agricultural workers are deprived of all insurances and pension, under the pretext that their employers are temporary.
There is no “Labour law” in Kurdistan. The former regime’s labour law, which is modified by the Iraqi government, isn’t implemented in Kurdistan. Employers treat workers as they wish!
Workers in Kurdistan are not allowed to organise a strike or unionise. Any kind of protest against low salaries and long working hours and other forms of exploitation, is forbidden. Independent workers’ unions are not permitted. The only unions allowed are the ones that are under the influence of the ruling parties. These unions belong to the former regime and now operate under the influence of the governing parties and do not represent the benefits of the workers.
There is no workplace security. 32 workers have fallen victim of workplace insecurity in the last 4 months, most of whom in construction sector. The number of incidents increases on a daily basis.
There is only one judicial court in Kurdistan, and it has no use! Business owners and employers deprive workers of their monthly and overtime salaries as punishment for absurd accusations, and fire them whenever they want.
The working women are the most alienated group among all workers. The opportunities for them is scarce, and they are abused and belittled and sexually harassed by their employers.

Government’s policy and behaviour regarding workers
The Region’s government has implemented neoliberalism policies thoroughly and has shunned its responsibility towards the workers and their rights. It has left the work-capital relationship to the job market, and has given total freedom to the employers to reduce the labour price and to alienate workers from their rights. Workers are forbidden to form their own union and are not allowed to go on a strike. Long working hours, low wages and abolishment of all their previous privileges are all they’ve got in the Region government.
40 to 50 thousand immigrant workers live in Kurdistan, a great deal of which has been legally brough to The Region by companies from countries like Nepal, The Philippines, Bangladesh, etc, and they work in service sector. Some of them have come illegally. Some are Iranian Kurds or Arabs fleeing the war in Syria or other cities of Iraq. They are being treated in a very inhumane way. They live in a worse situation in comparison to the local workers. Besides total deprivation of their rights, they sometimes get fined or imprisoned by security forces or customs officers. These workers are also sometimes belittled by the regressive part of the society and they are often seen as the reason for unemployment in The Region. Employers, on the other hand, use the immigrant workers as competitors for other (local) workers in order to exploit them even more.
Since a big part of the companies and employers are members, officials and leaders of the ruling parties, the Region government is directly responsible for the exploitation of the workers and the freedom that the employers enjoy. Moreover, the ruling parties have inflicted a more severe sort of poverty on the workers in The Region by imposing taxes and increasing the prices of water, electricity, healthcare, etc.
The Region government has increased unemployment by making workers of the governmental organisations redundant, and thus has put the burden of the economic crisis on the workers’ shoulders. It has not paid a part of the employee’s salaries since 2014 under the pretext of frictions with the central government and the reduced oil prices, and has also reduced the salaries by 31 per cent. This happens while the prices of social services, water, electricity and healthcare have increased, and they have let these services to private companies. Right now thousands of the workers in the environment sector have not received their salaries because of the problems made by the municipalities and the false promises they make, or they receive their salaries every two months.

Government’s policies during Corona pandemic and its impact on the workers’ lives
As the pandemic hit the Region, the government assumed no responsibility whatsoever regarding the unemployment benefits, basic needs, health and treatment costs of the temporarily jobless workers of the small industrial units.
Above the increase in unemployment and violation of the workers’ rights in this period, the government has put all the responsibility of people’s healthcare and protection on the workers’ own shoulders. The government’s irresponsibility has made people unable to provide themselves with their basic needs and has inflicted sheer starvation on them.
During the lockdown, industries such as oil, cement and steel remained open and their workers were forced to come to work under no protective measurements and regardless of their health conditions, and they even reduced their break time to 30 minutes and shut down the cafeteria and forced the workers to bring their own meal on their own budget.
Not paying salaries on time, pay-cuts, high prices due to the loss of the currency value, has brought people on the brink of starvation.
Protests, unrests and workers’ struggle.

Workers have not remained silent against the imposed difficult living conditions and have shown their protest in different sectors in several ways such as work boycotting, writing letters of discontentment, shutting down journalists’ congresses, protests in the private sector by going on strike and shouting their demands to the companies and the employers. The main reason for these protests has been pay-cuts or underpayments, as well as demanding more jobs and employment and meeting workers’ demands.

During the past decade the Kurdistan Region has witnessed people’s protests and demonstrations against anti-workers and anti-people policies of the ruling parties. Hardworking people and workers want to put an end to the violations on their rights and freedom. The ruling parties answer people with bullets and we’ve had several victims. The nationalist parties have survived all these years by seizing the power and wealth and by mans of weapons and the support they get from the other governments in the region.

People’s and workers’ fight goes on and they have realised that they will reach welfare and peace and freedom only by putting an end to the power of the bourgeois parties and their militia, and by giving this power to the masses and workers and the hardworking people of Kurdistan.

Finally, I’d like to emphasise again that the May Day is the international workers’ day and is a day for the international solidarity of the working class. In their fight against the rich and the rulers of the Region, the working class of Kurdistan need their fellow-workers’ solidarity around the world more and more. Let’s strengthen our class solidarity by fighting hand in hand and supporting the international working class.

Long live May Day.

Mehdi Rasoul, chief editor of “The Worker’s Voice” magazine, Iraq

Mehdi Rasoul

Chief editor of “The Worker’s Voice” publication

Workers’ panel in commemoration of 1 May 2021- Iraqi Kurdistan

(Speech translated in English for May Day Celebration)

Hello ladies and gentlemen and thanks to the organisers of this panel and congratulations on the 1 May to you and all workers.

I will be talking about the situation of workers in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and their lives and struggles.

In this short opportunity that I have, I will only be able to sketch a general picture of the different aspects of the workers’ lives, work and struggles.

Workers’ working conditions
According to the governmental statistics, there were 23,000 companies registered in the years between 2007 and 2014. Among these, 19,653 companies belonged to the local investors and 3,357 companies were registered by foreign citizens. Moreover, there were 8,000 companies registered, without a real identity! Huge companies investing in different domains, especially construction and people’s basic needs, have always been in keeping with the ruling parties’ policies to expand the free market and privatising all sectors, such as production, services, commerce and transportation.
More than 320 thousand workers work in around 4,500 companies. Their wages is something between 200 to 250 $ (a month) and has not changed in the last 30 years!
Workers have to sign temporary contracts. They have no say in the contents of the contract. Public workers have no privileges and there have been no more employments in this sector.
Officially, workers should work 8 hours a day, but, due to temporary contracts and contractual works, they work effectively 10 to 11 hours a day! Annual vacation and sick leaves have been abolished in many places.
Tens of thousands of workers are unemployed. Unemployment rate is estimated to be 40%. Most of the unemployed workers are university graduates. Unemployment has increased during the Corona crisis.
Social security insurance doesn’t exist in Kurdistan. Workers, especially in construction, hospitality businesses, shopping centres, seasonal and agricultural workers are deprived of all insurances and pension, under the pretext that their employers are temporary.
There is no “Labour law” in Kurdistan. The former regime’s labour law, which is modified by the Iraqi government, isn’t implemented in Kurdistan. Employers treat workers as they wish!
Workers in Kurdistan are not allowed to organise a strike or unionise. Any kind of protest against low salaries and long working hours and other forms of exploitation, is forbidden. Independent workers’ unions are not permitted. The only unions allowed are the ones that are under the influence of the ruling parties. These unions belong to the former regime and now operate under the influence of the governing parties and do not represent the benefits of the workers.
There is no workplace security. 32 workers have fallen victim of workplace insecurity in the last 4 months, most of whom in construction sector. The number of incidents increases on a daily basis.
There is only one judicial court in Kurdistan, and it has no use! Business owners and employers deprive workers of their monthly and overtime salaries as punishment for absurd accusations, and fire them whenever they want.
The working women are the most alienated group among all workers. The opportunities for them is scarce, and they are abused and belittled and sexually harassed by their employers.

Government’s policy and behaviour regarding workers
The Region’s government has implemented neoliberalism policies thoroughly and has shunned its responsibility towards the workers and their rights. It has left the work-capital relationship to the job market, and has given total freedom to the employers to reduce the labour price and to alienate workers from their rights. Workers are forbidden to form their own union and are not allowed to go on a strike. Long working hours, low wages and abolishment of all their previous privileges are all they’ve got in the Region government.
40 to 50 thousand immigrant workers live in Kurdistan, a great deal of which has been legally brough to The Region by companies from countries like Nepal, The Philippines, Bangladesh, etc, and they work in service sector. Some of them have come illegally. Some are Iranian Kurds or Arabs fleeing the war in Syria or other cities of Iraq. They are being treated in a very inhumane way. They live in a worse situation in comparison to the local workers. Besides total deprivation of their rights, they sometimes get fined or imprisoned by security forces or customs officers. These workers are also sometimes belittled by the regressive part of the society and they are often seen as the reason for unemployment in The Region. Employers, on the other hand, use the immigrant workers as competitors for other (local) workers in order to exploit them even more.
Since a big part of the companies and employers are members, officials and leaders of the ruling parties, the Region government is directly responsible for the exploitation of the workers and the freedom that the employers enjoy. Moreover, the ruling parties have inflicted a more severe sort of poverty on the workers in The Region by imposing taxes and increasing the prices of water, electricity, healthcare, etc.
The Region government has increased unemployment by making workers of the governmental organisations redundant, and thus has put the burden of the economic crisis on the workers’ shoulders. It has not paid a part of the employee’s salaries since 2014 under the pretext of frictions with the central government and the reduced oil prices, and has also reduced the salaries by 31 per cent. This happens while the prices of social services, water, electricity and healthcare have increased, and they have let these services to private companies. Right now thousands of the workers in the environment sector have not received their salaries because of the problems made by the municipalities and the false promises they make, or they receive their salaries every two months.

Government’s policies during Corona pandemic and its impact on the workers’ lives
As the pandemic hit the Region, the government assumed no responsibility whatsoever regarding the unemployment benefits, basic needs, health and treatment costs of the temporarily jobless workers of the small industrial units.
Above the increase in unemployment and violation of the workers’ rights in this period, the government has put all the responsibility of people’s healthcare and protection on the workers’ own shoulders. The government’s irresponsibility has made people unable to provide themselves with their basic needs and has inflicted sheer starvation on them.
During the lockdown, industries such as oil, cement and steel remained open and their workers were forced to come to work under no protective measurements and regardless of their health conditions, and they even reduced their break time to 30 minutes and shut down the cafeteria and forced the workers to bring their own meal on their own budget.
Not paying salaries on time, pay-cuts, high prices due to the loss of the currency value, has brought people on the brink of starvation.
Protests, unrests and workers’ struggle.

Long live May Day.

Mehdi Rasoul, chief editor of “The Worker’s Voice” magazine, Iraq

Mehdi Toopchi (Worker Activist from Iran) – Speech translated in English for May Day Celebration

Firstly I’d like to bid my warmest welcomes and solidarity to all the participants in this event.

May Day is a symbolic day for strengthening the workers’ solidarity and unity around the world. A day for workers to declare their independence and recognise the struggles of this class. The spirit of solidarity and class unity are the embodiments of the international workers’ day and are keys to success for the fighting workers and is a way out of the exploitation of the imperialist system.

Today we’re facing questions the answers to which can help us have a better understanding of the situation of the working class and the struggles of the world’s oppressed people. Is the May Day 2021, in the middle of a pandemic, of the same historical importance as the twentieth century? Are workers, today, safe from forms of violation and invasion by imperialism, corporations and the ruling class? Is the unity and solidarity of the working class, as a key to success and redemption from inequality and exploitation, still historically applicable? We think positive; it is still applicable.

As long as the aggressive class-order dominates the lives of workers, labourers and women, nothing can scathe the importance and influence of this day on workers’ social movements around the world. Nowadays we see, under the current global order, how capitalism doesn’t stop for one moment, violating the oppressed people’s rights in all aspects, even during a pandemic. And we witness how the bourgeois and their governments increasingly invade the lives of human beings.

Dear comrades, workers and activists; I am sure that the resonance of Iranian working class’s loud cry for equality and freedom has reached you and I admire your curiosity and eagerness to know more about their achievements and experiences. I am here as a member of the Iranian workers’ movement to convey to you, our fellow-workers around the world, the daily and comprehensive achievements and experiences of this movement, and also to tell you about the difficulties and obstacles on our way of fighting the Islamic Republic’s hideous, fascist capitalist system. To tell you about atrocities, discriminations and inequalities targeting workers, labourers and the working-class women, and to reach out to you for your solidarity, support and unity.

The current situation in Iran is the result of 4 decades of a regressive, profit-oriented, capitalist and ideological regime’s ruling, namely The Islamic Republic. According to the official numbers of the regime itself, poverty has cast its shadow upon 70% of the population and neoliberal policies have been implemented to an extent that even public services have been monetized and made expensive, and are controlled by private businesses; businesses born out of the oligarchy which is ruling the country. The discrimination and oppression that the working class, the labourers and the poor have experienced in the recent years, are unprecedented in the contemporary history.

Despite today’s suffocating circumstances, one can hear the voice of protesting and justice-seeking masses of workers, teachers, pensioners, farmers, students, nurses, people who have lost their savings to the corrupt banks and hurt by the capitalist regime of the Islamic Republic. The voice of the opposition of the Islamic Republic has never been as loud as the recent years and today. Dear comrades and guests, we should not forget how dangerous situation is and what consequences a worker may face by protesting against one of the wildest dictatorships of the whole capitalist world. The Islamic Republic is the government who answered the peaceful protests of October 2019 by shutting down the internet and arresting thousands of people and murdering hundreds with live ammunition (real bullets). In such a system, arresting the opponents and using torture and getting compelled confessions, is the beginning of the story for a protester. Long and unlawful lock-ups in solitary confinement and in the Middle-Ages-like dungeons, depriving prisoners of their basic rights and inhumane punishments like execution, are the ways in which the Islamic Republic treats workers, women and protesters. None of the Iranian workers will forget the tortures Ismaeil Bakhshi, Sepideh Gholyan and other Haft-Tapeh and Foulad workers experienced and the compelled confessions they were forced to make. Sepideh Gholyan is still in prison as we speak and other activists, such as Amir Hossein Mohammadi-Fard, Sanaz Allah-yari and many other comrades, who were dear friends of the workers’ protests, are still grappling with the consequences of torture, inquisition and imprisonment.

Momentarily, Ismaeil Abdi, the progressive Iranian teacher is still in the Regime’s prisons and is facing another round of mischievously orchestrated accusations by the inquisitors and the Regime’s intelligence agents and has been sentenced to another ten years in prison.

Ismaeil Gerami, a member of the pensioners’ union, who has not done anything except demanding his and his colleagues’ rights, is now locked up in solitary confinement, and, like all other political prisoners in Iran, is deprived of his basic rights as a prisoner and doesn’t even have access to a lawyer!

Dear comrades, in the recent 5 years there have been, on average, 1,500 demand-oriented protests and demonstrations in Iran and all of them have been answered with oppression, arrestation, imprisonment, torture, banishment and deprivation of a free life, instead of fulfilling those demands. This is the price the Iranian people and other groups of the society pay for their rightful struggles. Even though the whole working class in Iran is standing against this oppression and exploitation, we should not forget that this process of fighting for their rights has given the Iranian working class such a determination, the like of which can be rarely, if ever, found in the contemporary history. Solidarity and unity amongst them is the key to their perseverance and resistance in the face of the oppressors’ atrocities and suppressions.

Today the workers’ movement in Iran, besides pursuing its own demands, is a pioneer and leader of a nationwide movement against the ruling of ignorance and capitalism in that country. The movement of Iranian workers and teachers has been inspiring freedom-seeking and progressiveness in that society and has been able to express itself as a real alternative for its future. A serious and down-to-earth alternative that has been able to become social and universal: the alternative of workers’ councils.

The organising and unionising model of the working class has become a founded solid model in the society and shows itself in different forms. The people’s national movement against capital and oppression gets its self-confidence from the struggles of the workers’ movement. And the bravery, fights and achievements of the workers in Haft-Tapeh, Hepco, Foulad National Group, Azarab, Oil industry workers, etc, have become an anthem for the protesters and justice-seekers in that society.

Shahrokh Zamani, the union activist, has been lying underground for years because the prison guards gave only his body back to the workers’ movement. Mohammad Jarahi, another workers activist had the same destiny. Navid Afkary was executed and his brothers are still spending their lives in underground solitary confinements. What is their crime? Protesting against the status quo and shouting for their rights. Satar Beheshti, the worker who ran a blog only to increase the workers’ and people’s awareness, was killed under the police boots.

Comrades, these are only the tip of the iceberg of the atrocities and cruelties exercised against the workers in Iran. These are only some of the crimes that have been brought to the spotlight and people are informed about them. Add to these names those cases that are subject to the atrocities and oppression of the rulers in pure silence of the media and unawareness of the people. Admitting to the practical scope of the workers’ movement in Iran, this movement has been able to influence the nationwide movement that started in December 2017 and we all witnessed its continuation in October 2019 nationwide protests. This movement is shining brightly in the sky of the progressive struggles of the Iranian people to achieve a humane, equal and free life. Presently the activists of this movement and other movements fighting for the rights of the oppressed and labourers, have initiative of the society in their hands. The “workers’ council movement” of the Haft-Tapeh workers has been going on for the past 3 years and has been a significant tipping point in the Iranian workers’ movement. Haft-Tapeh workers and leaders and activists entered the battlefield on the basis of a collective platform, with the goal of increasing workers’ role in the process of decision making and fighting and leading their own movement. They insisted on their justice-seeking and the anti-corruption spirit, despite the brutal oppression by the police forces, arrestations and tortures their friends experienced, and they even managed to, though symbolically, make some of the factory owners and government officials stand trial! In a situation where corruption has permeated the lowest layers of the Islamic Republic’s government, and especially that the society is facing a mafia and systematic corruption, it was the Haft-Tapeh workers who rose up against these corruptions and carried the flag of these protests. Among the experiences and achievements of these workers one can mention the proposition of the public councils and moving towards forming the “Workers’ councils” and the slogan “Bread, freedom and system of all being run by councils” became a unifying link between the workers’ movement and the Iranian people’s national movement against the current circumstances.

Workers of Haft-Tapeh and Ahvaz Steel Company (Foulad) injected a collective will and class solidarity and unity into the workers’ movement in Iran and nowadays workers have faith in their own collective awareness in different sectors and this matter is obviously visible in the polarised society of that country.