More than 89% of Iranian employees, mostly from the working classes, are on temporary contracts. According to the ILNA news agency, such contracts represent “a blank cheque for the abuse of workers’ rights. Employers can fire people whenever they wish, and are under no obligation to offer any form of compensation.”

Commenting on Iran’s discriminatory labor laws, Asghar Borshan, who is a trade activist in the city of Isfahan, told the ILNA: “A minimum wage and respect for their rights is nowadays a basic standard for workers. These rights are being blatantly denied, and workers are effectively required to sign a blank cheque allowing their employers to dismiss them at the merest whim. They are asking workers to forego their rights voluntarily. The trend towards temporary employment should ring lawmakers’ alarm bells. It is a major cause of the chaos in the job market, and shows that the government is bowing to pressure from employers, and doing nothing to protect workers’ rights. Recent statistics also show that many workers are being laid off before reaching retirement age, forcing them to join the temporary work force.”

Source : Shahrzadnews