Hamid Taqvaee’s
message to sugar cane workers of Haft Tapeh and steelworkers of
Ahvaz, Iran
I send my greetings
to you militant workers of Haft Tapeh and the steelworkers of Ahvaz.
Your steadfast strike and struggles echo the demands and sentiments
of all the workers and people of Iran. The methods of your struggle
are methods that can become a blueprint for all the workers and
people of Iran. You are demanding the payment of unpaid wages, you
have come out against poverty and corruption, you are calling for
workers to get organised and take over the running of their affairs.
These are the sentiments of the people of Iran, the sentiments of the
working class in Iran.
The methods of your
struggle can become a model for all workers and various protest
movements in society. Your families have joined your struggles and
doubly strengthened your fight. By holding general assemblies and
organising your struggle on a workers’ council basis, in my view
you have taken a huge step forward; you have raised the banner of
workers’ councils and have demanded the direct exercise of the will
of workers through their council. This is a demand, slogan and aim of
the whole workers’ movement and the people in Iran engaged in
protest.
On the other hand,
the unity and solidarity that you have shown between the two sectors
of workers, i.e. the steelworkers in Ahvaz and the sugar cane workers
in Haft Tapeh, if not unprecedented, is exceptional in the history of
the workers’ movement in Iran. It is over three weeks, nearly a
month, now that two important sectors of workers have been on strike
and during your strike you have come out united and in solidarity
with each other and in support of each other’s demands, slogans and
struggle. This solidarity can be widened to include larger sections
of the working class in Iran.
The government,
faced with this powerful wave of your struggle, has no choice other
than, like always, to resort to threats, repression and prison. But,
as you have said in your slogans, even threats, repression and prison
have no effect, and have only led to the strengthening of your
struggle.
It has been reported
that Ali Nejati [the head of the union of sugar cane workers] and
also his son Peyman Nejati have been arrested, while their house was
raided and they were brutally beaten up. It has also been reported
that Esmail Bakhshi [a popular leader and representative of the sugar
cane workers] has been subjected to torture and physical abuse in
prison. This outrage should be answered firmly, and we should stand
up to these savages, demanding the immediate release of Esmail
Bakhshi, Sepideh Gholiyan, Ali Nejati and Peyman Nejati; an urgent
demand that should be forced onto the government. Up to this point,
your struggle and the demand for the release of Bakhshi has given
rise to a huge wave of support, both in Iran and internationally.
Workers’ organisations, workers’ rights personalities, writers,
students, retired workers, teachers and civil rights activists and
figures have started petitions and issued statements and held protest
gatherings to call for the immediate release of Bakhshi, and actively
supported your struggle.
Also,
internationally, many trade unions, in Europe and Canada, have called
for the release of Bakhshi and supported your struggles. This wave of
support must be extended further, and the Islamic Republic forced to
release Esmail Bakhshi, Ali Nejati, Peyman Nejati and Sepideh
Gholiyan immediately and unconditionally. This fight must be
continued until the release of all jailed workers and all political
prisoners in Iran. In the hope of victory and success!
---
Hamid Taqvaee is the
leader of the Worker-communist Party of Iran (WPI)
This is the English transcript of Hamid Taqvaee's video message in Farsi
Please note: Peyman Nejati have been released in the meantime
