Posted on 03/17/2005 4:36:55 PM PST by freedom44
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RFERL
Students in Isfahan, central Iran, disrupted a campaign speech by Mustafa Moin, an aspirant in the presidential election set for June, forcing him to curtail his remarks and leave, Radio Farda reported on 7 March. Moin, a former education minister, is favored by the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front and Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization.
Members of the Islamic Association of Isfahan Universities and Medical Faculties, an umbrella student group, reportedly sang and shouted slogans against Moin as he spoke, and waved placards denouncing the now stagnant reforms initiated in 1997 by President Khatami. The placards instead displayed calls for a referendum on Iran's form of government, a recent demand made by some Iranians (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 1 March 2005). The student group had issued two previous statements telling Moin not to come, saying in one that the presidential elections will be "neither genuine nor free," but rather a means of "ridiculing the intelligence" of Iranians, Radio Farda reported. Prospective presidential candidates must be approved by the Guardians Council, a vetting and supervisory body, before they can run for public office.
On 9 March, an unspecified number of workers scuffled with police in Tehran after gathering outside the Labor Ministry to demand unpaid wages, Radio Farda reported on 10 March. The workers are employees of a plastics manufacturer and have not been paid for four months, it added. Also, secondary-school teachers from six Tehran districts were pursuing a strike begun on 5 March to protest against low wages and alleged wage inequalities between teachers and other civil servants, with some teachers protesting outside parliament on 9 March, Radio Farda and "Iran" reported on 10 March. Separately, In Ilam, western Iran, employees of a meat factory held a three-week strike and sit-in to protest six months of unpaid wages, Radio Farda and Iranian agencies reported on 10 March.
Iranian workers have meanwhile appointed a committee to lobby for the rights of workers to form free labor associations, Radio Farda reported on 8 March. The committee recently issued a statement signed by 5,000 workers, addressed to the Labor Ministry and the International Labor Organization (ILO), stating that it does not recognize agreements signed between the Iranian government and the ILO because Iranian workers had no independent representatives at the talks. The government has not made good on its pledge to implement ILO protocols governing the formation of independent labor unions, Radio Farda reported. Iranian workers have criticized official unions as being too close to the government, and some workers have already written to the government asking permission to engage in union activities. Iranian workers can currently form unions following rules set by the Labor Ministry. (Vahid Sepehri)
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A nationwide strike would be HIGHLY effective against the mad mullah regime. Great job in shouting the mullah candidate off the stage too.
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chock full of information. The progress is encouraging. I am hopeful. Thank you.
The only way to get rid of the regime in Tehran is to unite all exile dissidents and make an Iranian version of INC.
Once the dissidents come together to fight the regime, the Mullahs will be gone faster!
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