Iran: Sanandaj bakers win pay rise!

On Monday November 2 the bakers of Sanandaj, in Iranian Kurdistan, won a pay rise. After their several meetings and ongoing correspondence with the Governor’s Office and other Sanandaj authorities over higher wages had no result, the bakers of Sanandaj finally announced a three-hour strike on November 2.

The strike made government officials, particularly the Governor of Sanandaj, to go to bakeries in the early hours of the morning and try various methods to stop the bakers from going on strike.

The strike took place after a collective decision and careful preparation by the workers. They announced that if they did not receive higher wages then they would strikes in several stages.

After the strike, the workers had a number of meetings with the Sanandaj Governor and other officials. By the end of office hours on that day the bakers had won higher wages. A list detailing the pay rises of the five different grades of bakery workers was published. The pay rises range between 15.7 and 18.9 per cent (the current official - and underestimated - inflation rate is 18.5 per cent).

Source: Co-ordination Committee for the Formation of Labour Organisations, 2 November 2009.
Translation: Iranian Workers’ Solidarity Network.