About 800 workers have entered their sixth day of protests in front of Iran’s presidential offices building on Sunday January 27.
ILNA reports that 500 of the 2,000 seasonal sugar-cane cutters from Shooshtar have been joined by 300 of their peers from Khuzestan to demand better conditions, regular wage payments and adequate benefits.
Their number-one demand is year-round health insurance, which they are not given as seasonal workers.
One of the protesters criticized the authorities, saying: “All these days that we’ve been in Tehran protesting, while all the state media are aware and reporting on our protest, not one official has left the building to inquire about our problems.”
He added: “We are enduring lots of difficulty here, away from home in the capital, but we will not return empty-handed to our families back in our cities.”
Another protester told ILNA: “We have had to come here to Tehran, let go of our jobs and daily lives, because none of the officials have tried to address our labour needs, and we have decided to bring our demands in person to the president.”
