‘Bosses in Tehran No Different Than Bosses Here’

by James Parks, Feb 17, 2006

The rally at the Iranian Interests Section in Washington, D.C., was personal for Mike Golash. Standing with hundreds of other workers Feb. 15, Golash, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, demanded that Iran release hundreds of imprisoned Iranian bus drivers, who were arrested after police brutally cracked down on a planned Jan. 28 strike.

“The bosses in Tehran are no different than the bosses in this country and they understand that transit workers are always the key to any labor movement,” Golash said. “Workers of the world, unite!”

In 20 world capitals, workers answered the call for an International Day of Action for the Iranian drivers. The Day of Action was spearheaded by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which represents 155 million workers through its 236 affiliated organizations, including the AFL-CIO.

The Iranian drivers called the strike to protest the detention of their union president, Mansoor Osanloo, and to demand that the government recognize their union. Osanloo and his entire executive board were arrested Dec. 22 during a union meeting. Police released the other leaders following a widely supported strike and pressure from international worker and human rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO. But Osanloo remains in prison, reportedly in fragile medical condition.

“The detention of several hundred workers is an unacceptable response to workers exercising their fundamenta1abor rights,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “The AFL-CIO strongly condemns the arrest of workers exercising their legitimate, internationally recognized trade union rights and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all detained trade unionists.”

The ICFTU reports that more than 80 trade unionists are being held in prison in Iran. Companies with fewer than 10 employees—about 80 percent of all companies in the country—are exempt from any labor laws. Security forces also routinely use violence to break up workers’ demonstrations, according to the ICFTU’s annual survey on workers’ rights violations.

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