Despite the optimism in the west surrounding the election of reformist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier this year, little has changed on the ground for working people in Iran, and the leaders of independent trade unionists remain in jail, along with many others fighting for truth and justice, like journalists and high-profile actress Pegah Ahangarani.

Whatever diplomatic progress is being made regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions – suggesting that his motivation is not to improve the lives of ordinary Iranians, but to free the elite from the effect of western sanctions.

This weekend, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) protested to President Rouhani about the continued detention of bus workers’ leader Reza Shahabi, the treasurer of ITF affiliate the Vahed Syndicate. UK campaign group CODIR has also protested, building on the call Amnesty International made with trade unions in August when Rouhani was inaugurated.

Reza was briefly freed for medical reasons earlier this year, but was almost certainly returned to jail too early, and is now suffering further health problems: an MRI scan has shown that three lower vertebrates have been damaged  and are in need of immediate surgery in a hospital. Reza has been suffering from lower back pain for months, his left foot becoming almost paralyzed as a result, with very little mobility left in it. Due to the numbness of his foot and his severe back pain, he was transferred to the Imam Khomeini Hospital on 19 October. After all examinations, physicians have once again recommended that Reza is in no condition to be returned to a prison environment, and is in need of hydrotherapy and physiotherapy in a stress free environment outside of prison. They have also warned that unless such treatments are provided there is a very high possibility that his entire left side could be paralyzed.

Another attack on freedom of speech, condemned by BECTU, was the sentencing this week of 24 year old actress, Pegah Ahangarani, to 18 months in jail for the alleged crime of “action against national security and links to foreign media”. CODIR reports that Ahangarani has been detained twice since the protests in 2009 over the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although she was released without charges.

Following the recent election victory of Hassan Rouhani, who was elected on an allegedly reformist platform, Ms Ahangarani asked him at a public meeting to appoint a culture minister who would be able to deliver promises on “freedom of thought and expression.”

The 2012 TUC Congress carried a resolution from the Musicians’ Union about the restrictions on freedom of expression being faced by artists around the world, following the union’s earlier defence of Iranian actress Marzieh  Vafamehr.

At the start of last week, the NUJ and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) held a briefing for MPs about the restrictions on media freedom in Iran, highlighting the continued imprisonment of 20 journalists, many since the 2009 protests. Jim Boumelha, NUJ member and IFJ president said:

“We are reinvigorating our campaign since the election of Hussain Rouhani. We have reacted forcefully to every one of his public declarations, especially the comment that ‘guilds and associations are the best ways to run social affairs of the society.’ We are making the re-opening of the Association [of Iranian Journalists] headquarters our priority and will continue to press for the release of journalists in jail.”

Posted on November 2nd, 2013 by Owen Tudor filed under: Global solidarity

FROM SCOOP (NZ):

***ITF backs Norwegian dockers Saturday, 2 November 2013, 3:17 pm Press Release: ITF

1 November 2013

ITF backs Norwegian dockers

The ITF has spoken out in support of dockworkers in Norway who have begun a boycott at Risavika terminal today (Friday 1 November 2013). The action is over the reported refusal of management to sign up to the national Norwegian agreement covering dockworkers.

Instead, employer Risavika Terminal AS is said to be proposing to use seafarers to carry out cargo handling duties.

The ITF has issued a statement condemning the intentions of the company which are in direct contravention of the ITF dockers’ clause. The statement reads: All ITF agreements contain the dockers’ clause, which stipulates that on vessels covered, neither the ship’s crew nor anyone else on board shall carry out cargo handling work traditionally or historically done by dockworkers. Cargo handling must be done by professional dockworkers who have the relevant skills and training to be efficient and safe in this role.

The ITF finds the intentions of management to violate the dockers’ clause in this way totally unacceptable and agrees with the NTF’s assessment that this is a blatant attempt to cut costs and maximise profits in a move which poses a great risk to health and safety standards as well as trade union rights.

ITFdockers’ section chair Paddy Crumlin said: “We are behind the dockers of Norway 100 per cent. They are taking action because they have been left no other choice. This is a long running dispute at the heart of which is the company’s lack of respect for dock work as a profession and its willingness to put lives at risk by allowing those without the proper training and experience to do a job which is skilled and dangerous. That’s something that we just can’t stand back and accept.”

Norwegian maritime unions have requested that vessels divert to other ports where there is a NTF agreement in place, while the boycott is in force.

For more about cargo handling see: www.itfseafarers.org/ITI-cargo-handling.cfm

ENDS

FROM PAKISTAN AND GULF ECONOMIST:

Pakistan and Gulf Economist

The Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Kouyou was detained in the port of Quebec, Canada, after maritime labor officials determined that crew were owed more than USD51,000 in backpay.

It is the third detention in Canada of a vessel under the new international Maritime Labor Convention (MLC 2006), which came into force worldwide in August.

Problems aboard the ship were discovered by Gerard Bradbury, an inspector with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and Unifor union. He explained: “Twenty Burmese and Vietnamese crew, including the Canadian Captain James Maung are not being paid or treated properly, and in particular had been shorted on the home-allotment portion of their pay that provides for families left at home while seafarers are abroad at work.”

The most alarming situation aboard involved crew who had paid a total of USD6,600 in fees to obtain their jobs, Bradbury said. Recruitment or placement fees paid to manning agents are illegal under international labor conventions. In some cases, crew were also receiving less than half the wage owed them under their labor agreement, he stated. Wage calculations are ongoing, but are expected to top USD51,000 US.

Peter Lahay ITF Canada coordinator said: “We are extremely pleased that Canada has seriously given life to the MLC. On our request Transport Canada inspectors are enforcing a convention that has been agreed by the world’s shipping community and member states of the ILO. The ILO has concluded that the world’s seafarers are among the most isolated and marginalized workers in the world and are in need to special protection. That is what we are doing.”