Iran's National Steel Group Bans 17 More Workers

The employees of Iran's National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz continued their strike for a second day after 21 employees were banned from working.

Chanting slogans such as "Neither threats nor prisons are effective anymore", it was prompted by recent work bans as punishment for participation in protests and the failure to implement job classification plans, according to Ilna news agency.

Following the Saturday strike, the management blocked the entry cards of 17 other workers and on Sunday, there was a heavy security presence at the strike site, according to the Free Union of Iranian Workers Telegram channel.

Ilna quoted Ali Mohammadi, the CEO of the group, as saying the workers' ban was to “prevent the gatherings and halts in production lines from happening," indirectly threatening workers' salaries would not be paid if the protests continued.

"We have to pay the salaries of 3,000 personnel on the seventh or eighth day of this month, and the salaries cannot be paid with closed production lines," Mohammadi said.

In August, the Minister of Labor had stated that workers should negotiate salary increases with their employers directly, and denied that this had any relation to his ministry.

After failing to negotiate for the implementation of labor laws, many workers, including Ahvaz Steel, have also had problems with salary increases, leading not only to security clashes but also to threats of salary cuts in response to their protests.