TUC protests about repression of Iranian May Day protests
Dear Ambassador
I urge you strongly to convey to your Government yet again the deep concern of the Trades Union Congress, which represents people at work in Great Britain through our 6.5 million members and their 58 trade unions, about the arrests of trade unionists and the harassment of peaceful May Day demonstrations.
I understand that to create fear among trade unionists ahead of May Day, several people were arrested in advancee. On 23 April, Shays Amani was arrested. He is one of the founders of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers (NUDUW) and former leaders of the union in the Kurdistan Textile Company. Shays Amani was arrested last year on May Day and is still awaiting the result of his appeal against his unfair sentence to two and a half years imprisonment.
On May Day itself several arrests and other acts of harassment took place across Iran. Three workers activists, Javanmir Moradi and Taha Azadi, members of the Free Union of Iranian Workers (FUIW), and another worker by the name of Saeed Hazrati were arrested in Asalouyeh in the south of Iran.
Other arrests took place in Ashnavieh city and Sanandaj. In Tehran where May Day events took place on 25 April, security forces and the police blocked the Chitgar Park and scared away participants. The park was shut down by 1000 security forces, but the workers managed to move to the Jahan-Nama Park and continue the celebrations there.
Iran is doing itself no favours by behaving in this fashion, and I would urge you to convey to your Government the damage this is doing to the standing of Iran in the eyes of the workers' movement in Britain and around the world.
I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and making it public.
Yours sincerely
Brendan Barber
General Secretary
Stay Updated
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox