Radio Farda: A wave of labor strikes has hit Iran on Saturday, August 1 in different sectors and plants, including Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane industrial complex, and more importantly in the oil and gas industry.

Workers went on strike in the south if Iran, at Abadan, Parsian and Qeshm refineries, and in the Lamerd petrochemical complex, and South Pars oil field. All workers assembled, demanding the implementation of job-classification law and their overdue wages and benefits.

Workers at Qeshm oil refinery employed by several contractors say that their employers have failed to pay them regularly.

Nevertheless, the state-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA) cited one of the refinery's directors saying that the workers are after raises and have no problem concerning overdue salaries.

The Abadan oil refinery has also witnessed protests by contract workers in recent months, which gained momentum on Saturday.

Furthermore, workers in phases 22 and 24 of South Pars gas fields went on strike on Saturday with similar demands. Workers in these phases have held several strikes and rallies since 2017.

Meanwhile, Hepco, one of the principal manufacturers of road construction machinery, witnessed another round of workers’ protest to confusion and uncertainty over undefined job descriptions and decline in the operational capacity of production lines.

A jewel in the crown of the industrial sector in Iran before the Islamic Revolution (1979), Hepco is reportedly operating with only 5-10 percent capacity.

Unpaid wages and benefits in Iran in recent years have become a major issue for workers. The ongoing hardship has forced struggling workers to hold protest rallies in different parts of Iran, including the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Industrial Complex, in the oil-rich Khuzestan province >>>