#Ahwazna – Ahwazi workers protest in front of Water Department over unpaid salaries

Ahwazna

On 31, January, 2015 dozens of Ahwazi workers staged 3-hour sit -in front of the Water Department building demanding their four months overdue salaries.

According to Ahwazi labor activists, tens of the Ahwazi Arab workers have gathered in front of the Water and Sewerage Department in Ahwaz capital in protest over their four months unpaid salaries.

The workers also demanded the officials to pay their dues to the Department of Social Insurance so that they can access health Insurance.

The sources added; the violation of rights of Ahwazi Arab workers happens continuously due to lack of supervision on their conditions and deliberate negligence by the relevant authorities. Thus, this situation has led to the exploitation of the deplorable living conditions of the Ahwazi workers by contracting Persian companies that force the Ahwazi Arab workers to do very tough works under unhygienic and unsafe conditions.

Additionally the contracting companies delay in paying the wages and the salaries of the workers leaving them unpaid for long-terms and even avoid of providing health insurance for them.

 It said there are totally about 300 workers are recruited in the Water and Sewerage Department of Ahwaz city.

These workers based on contractual conditions were hired for cleaning sewage system. This job is one of the difficult and the dangerous work because of the direct and regular deal with pollutants and wastes that is possibly causing the workers to infect with serious diseases such as cancer.

 The Ahwazi workers as a whole are suffering from exploitation and racial discrimination at the hands of Persian authorities.

The Living conditions of the Ahwazi workers are getting worse as a result of the absence of legal rights and lack of articles in the State of Iran’s constitution to protect them from abuse and violation of their labor rights.

The racial discrimination against the Ahwazi workers is reflecting apparently when they are not allowed to form a labor union to be interested in their issues and safeguard their rights.

This situation paved the way for the Persian contractors to repeatedly and continuously exploit and violate the rights of the Ahwazi Arab workers. With no accountability or superiors to answer to, the Persian contractors effectively have carte blanche to abuse their power and subject the Ahwazi workers to miserable conditions.