GVF — More than 100,000 Iranian workers lost their jobs in the past year alone, says the head of Iran’s House of Labour.

According to Iran’s Labour news agency Ilna, Alireza Mahjoub, head of the state-sponsored union body, said that in the past year 100,000 workers had been laid off from one thousand production units across the country.

Mahjoub announced that unemployment was twice as high amongst women as it was among their male counterparts. Despite the fact that women often receive two-thirds of the minimum wage set by the government, they generally choose not to take legal action out of fears they might lose their jobs, he added.  He also called for more supervision at production plants.

The MP warned that if the authorities failed to grant authorisation for labour demonstrations on International Workers’ Day, the rallies would be held at the House of Labour. “If the Interior Ministry fails to grant a permit, we will request again,” he said.