Strife at Iranian Mines

Iran Labor Report

Privatization of the mines and the mining industry has been in the forefront of the privatization drive moving full force in Iran. Along with this trend, harsh treatment of the workers, accidents at the mines and suppression of the workers protests are also topping other sectors. Calling in special forces on miners of Bafgh, arresting their leaders as well as those of Chadormalu mines are indications of what workers should be facing in the privatization drive to come. A trend which is to be hastened by international nuclear agreements and drive to attract domestic and foreign capital.

The mines have been scene of worker protests in the face of this onslaught.

in January 2014, 28 Chadormalu Iron Ore Miners were arrested following 2000 strong miners strike over firing of the workers representative, Bahram Hasaninejad. Hasaninejad was a leader at Toos Asphalt Workers Trade Association, the contracting company employing the miners as well as the low wages. The 28 workers were called in by the security police and arrested following the complaint by the general manager at the mine. Not succeeding in securing Hasaninejad’s return to work, they were able to achieve some of their other trade demands such as job classifications scheme implementation at the mine. 656 miners have signed a petition calling for return of Hasaninejad. The miners also held a protest gathering on December 14 over rumors of an election to replace Hasaninejad’s position.

Bafgh Miners staged a 39 day strike over the summer in which they successfully pushed back the attempts at privatization of the mines. In the course of the strike, riot police were called in and several of the labor leaders were arrested.

On July 6, about 1400 Eastern Alborz Mines workers in Semnan went on strike over privatization of the mine. According to Rahman Ajam, a member of Islamic Labor Council of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines talking to Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), the privatization organization has transferred one hundred percent of the shares of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines Company to Isfahan Steel private sector. This has caused anxiety amongst the workers over job security.

According to Ajam, the workers receive minimum wages with months of delay and are engaged in most difficult tasks mining coal. About 1200 of the workers work on temporary contracts and the rest are permanent. The workers never have job security and start their daily work with stress.

Eastern Alborz Coal Mine Workers held five strikes in one month to protest the privatization effort at the mine. Of concern to the miners is transferring 42 acres of land owned by the Mine to the municipality of Shahrood where 120 miners houses are located. The miners fear the transfer would mean they having to vacate their homes.

On December 1, Eastern Alborz coal miners along with the bus and truck drivers and contractors walked off of their jobs over 70 days of back wages for the workers at the mine and held a strike for a few hours. The employer share of the dues to the social security has been delayed by 4 months. The troubles started with transferring of ownership of the mine to Isfahan Steel six months ago.

Similarly, 300 Takht Coal Miners in Minoodasht went on strike on December 2 over two months of back wages. Takht is also one of the three parts comprising Eastern Alborz mines. Takht miners demands are similar to the rest of Eastern Alborz coal miners.

310 Western Alborz Coal Mine Workers in Sangrood of Gilan went on strike on September 16 over three months of back wages and closing down of the mines. The workers gathered by entrance to tunnel number nine in the mines. Workers representatives also set out for province capital of Roudbar to discuss their grievances. On the sixth day of the strike, about 150 miners traveled to Tehran and staged a gathering by the Ministry of Labor.

Talks of the Mine close down surfaced on November 30 of last year around the Mine not being profitable. Miners protests at the time resulted in the closure debate to be delayed until March 2017. The involved parties have yet to ratify the decision.

Madanju Coal Mine workers in Zarand had to bow to pressures and sign their blank signature contracts foregoing their demands that had led to several days of protest in November. The miners had demanded their back payment dues.

More than 260 Kooshk miners in Bafgh, went on strike for five days starting on December 9. Among the miners demands were timely payment of the wages and dues, job classification scheme implementation, health care and adequate medical examinations, safety and sanitation measures at the mine.

Asghar Dashtabadi, the head of the Labor Office of the city of Bafgh called the workers strike illegal and that they had to go back to work if they wanted their demands to be met. According to Dashtabadi, talking to ILNA, “although protesting in certain situations is the legal right of the worker, no where in the Labor Law, however, strikes have been specified and any action leading to disruption of the affairs is not acceptable and should end immediately.” 95 percent of the miners at Kooshk mines work on temporary contracts and suffer from job insecurity. After payment of one month out of the three due and other promises, the miners ended their strike. Two miners lost their lives last year at Kooshk. The miners at Kooshk are among the least paid in the mines of the region. Bafgh Mine Company Limited is the private owner of the Koosh mine.

Miners at Aghdareh Gold Mines in Western Azerbayjan held a gathering on December 27, over the cut in labor force by 350. Pouya Zarkan Company, the main contractor at the mine, did not renew the contract of the workers who held between one to seven years of work at the mine. The miners held their gathering until 8:00 p.m. in which three miners attempted suicide during the protest. One of the workers talking with ILNA, said that “I decided to end my life by taking a piece of glass and stabbed myself in the stomach. Then, I could not remember anything and lost conscious. When I regained my consciousness, I noticed that I was in the hospital.” The worker had gone under surgery. Commenting on the reason behind his attempt, he said “it has been several years that I am working these mines in seasonal basis but have never had a sense of job security and this issue that at any moment we could loose our jobs bothered not only me but all the workers”. “At the time of the incident”, he said, “I felt the condition of my employment and the fate of my family and the other terminated colleagues is of no importance to anyone, thus, I decided to end my life.” “For someone like myself”, the miner said, “who has a small child living in a remote village with no amenities, loosing paycheck is tantamount to hunger for the family.”

According to a report by Haleh Safarzadeh on the site of Free Union of Iranian Workers, the Iran Statistics Center reported that, in 2013, the private sector owned 98 percent of the mines in Iran. Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, in 2013, privatization in mining sector brought in a revenue of 28 thousand Billion Toomans to the government coffers, topping the privatization drive in the country. The privatization has been carried out by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization(IMIDRO).

The deputy head of the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade has said that privatization started in 2002 and the mining sector has been the vanguard of this trend. The privatization of mines picked up in the final months of Ahmadinejad administration.

According to the chairman of the board of IMIDRO, the priority has been with the domestic investors first and then Iranians living abroad and finally foreign investors.

The privatizations are through Rents afforded to the circles close to the regime including several tied to the Revolutionary Guards. Several of these have involved graft, wrongful financial and corrupt dealings and misappropriation of public resources.

Among foreign investors in the mining sector are those from Austria, Germany, France, Georgia, Russia and China. The head of Iranian Chamber of Commerce reported of 70 Billion dollar deal with Russia in this regard. Other investors are awaiting for the results of Iran 5 + 1 on going negotiations.