Notes from the Post-War Days 3
In the spring of 2025, before the onset of the twelve-day war on July 13 between Iran and Israel, a wave of nationwide labor protests was underway. Data collected by labor activists indicate that in May/June, over 70 instances of labor strikes and protests were recorded across at least 27 provinces of the country. A wide spectrum of occupational groups participated in these protests, with truck drivers and bakers at the forefront. Retirees from the Social Security, telecommunications, and steel sectors also had a strong presence in the protests. Additionally, workers from sectors such as oil and gas facilities, petrochemicals, urban services, and green spaces (like municipal workers in Mahshahr), as well as employees of Kavir Steel Factory, National Copper Industries Company, Khavar-e Gilan Spinning, and organizations affiliated with IDRO, were among the groups whose names appeared among the protesters in official and unofficial news agencies.
The wave of workers’ protests which had emerged before the outbreak of war amid widespread power outages, declining production, over 40% inflation, an unprecedented rise in the cost of essential goods, and job insecurity, entered a new phase with the start of the twelve-day war. During this period, wartime conditions, marked by heightened security measures, threats to personal safety, and the prioritization of survival, temporarily pushed protest activity to the margins. In this sense, the war functioned as a “moment of suspension for politics and social struggles”, a moment in which livelihood and labor demands were relegated to the background, and the public sphere, whether out of fear or repression, was emptied of sustained social action. Nevertheless, as this report will show, that suspension did not last. As soon as the first openings for expressing discontent appeared, the accumulated grievances, though for now on a smaller scale, resurfaced, manifesting once again in the form of gatherings, strikes, and the articulation of dissent.
What stood out in this situation more than the temporary suspension of protests, as we previously addressed in the text “National Unity as a Tool of Class Repression”, was the formation of a kind of “national unity” that was orchestrated from above and along the lines of the existing power structure, organized around the ruling authority. This unity, which outwardly portrayed “the people” as united in the face of an external threat, in reality had a distinctly class-based character that aligned with the prevailing capitalist logic of power. In that report, we wrote:
“What is portrayed as national unity is not even a temporary alliance between opposing forces in the moment of war. National unity, in essence, is a configuration that suspends real conflicts or the possibility of their emergence in order to enable the continued repression of class antagonisms. The wartime state of emergency, by acting as an artificial equalizer, momentarily gathers conflicting subjects under the banner of an abstract ‘nation’; but this gathering is precisely the moment of exclusion for those forces that stand in opposition to the status quo. In such a situation, not only is class conflict denied, it is also deemed ‘untimely’ or ‘disruptive to unity’, and it is exactly for this reason that [national unity] functions as a tool for consolidating the dominance of the ruling class.”
This unity, though it emerged out of a genuine context of collective anxiety and the need for survival, ultimately served, as noted, not to change anything, but to preserve the status quo. This status quo was not merely defined in terms of territorial integrity or the structure of the nation-state, but more fundamentally in the form of the class structure of society, which, as the essential core of the existing order, had to remain untouched like a sacred object. The flood of statements during this period, calls to return to the people, appeals to a unified nation, attention to the economy, fighting corruption, and reforming the economic structure, were not indicators of a will to change, but mechanisms to ensure that nothing would change. Thus, “national unity” was organized around the interests and survival of the same power structure that had played a central role in social collapse through its anti-worker policies and class repression. A structure that, even in the midst of war, did not cease its assault on the working class. “National unity,” which sought to project a future horizon through appeals to the people and the fight against corruption, was not an effort to transcend an undemocratic and corrupt order, but rather an attempt to preserve it, or more precisely, to reconfigure and render it functional under crisis conditions.
In another text, we will further unpack this idea and examine in detail the class nature of the unity that was formed around the interests of the ruling class. We will identify the forces that carried this project forward and explain how “national unity” and the notion of a “unified nation” have the potential to become code words for class repression. In this text, however, drawing on labor news and data, we aim to show how the proclaimed “national unity” excluded the working class and the toiling masses not only symbolically, but in concrete, material terms, without this structural exclusion disrupting the official narrative of unity in the slightest. The report that follows is based primarily on labor union sources and workers’ media, and offers a brief yet telling snapshot of the condition of Iranian workers during and after the twelve-day war.
Wage Delays and Livelihood Crisis
Beneath the rubble of war headlines, scattered reports emerged that few observers deemed significant: more than 500 workers at the “Sahel Seid Konarak” company had not received their wages for over three months. In various workplaces. including the “Kish Choob” factory, the “Shahrak-e Salman Farsi” gas station in Shush, the “AGC” company in Phase 14 of South Pars, and the “Sarjin Baft” factory in Zanjan, workers faced serious problems in receiving their wages and insurance benefits. In some cases, wage delays extended over several months. Specifically, around 80 workers at the AGC company have not received any wages over the past four months and are still waiting for their salaries from February through June 2025. Their end-of-year bonuses for last year have also not been paid. In addition, some of these workers have been placed on forced leave or remain in a state of job insecurity and temporary unemployment. A similar situation has been reported among workers at the “Shahrak-e Salman Farsi” gas station in Shush, where several employees, despite years of service, are owed months of back pay and unpaid bonuses, and continue to live in uncertainty regarding their employment future.
Wave of Layoffs During and After the War
During the war and in its aftermath, the dismissal of workers by employers under various pretexts, including financial shortages has increased. Sarjin Baft Factory in Zanjan laid off its veteran workers, and Arghavan Gostar Petrochemical Plant in Ilam dismissed a significant number of employees, leaving them in limbo after a recruitment exam, both are clear examples of this trend. Similarly, workers at Phase 14 of South Pars Gas Field, employed by AGC Company, have been placed on forced leave with four months of unpaid wages and insurance contributions, and their job prospects remain uncertain. At the same time, Ham-Mihan newspaper published a report stating that following the ceasefire, at least 150 journalists across various media outlets, including Khabar Online, Eqtesad News, Tejarat News, Donya-ye Eqtesad, Eqtesad Online, and EcoIran, lost their jobs. And this is only the news that has made it to the media. According to reports we have received, at Kalleh Company, department managers have been instructed to fire fifteen employees each. A similar situation has occurred at Firooz Company. In some furniture factories, workers have been converted into day laborers.
Elimination of Insurance and Healthcare Services
Another example of the violation of workers’ rights is the non-payment of insurance premiums and healthcare services. Workers at Karaj Railway have reported that their employer has failed to pay two to four months’ worth of insurance contributions, leading to serious difficulties in accessing medical services and supplementary health insurance. Workers at Arak Machinery Manufacturing Company also issued a statement protesting the non-payment of supplementary health insurance for over seven months, warning that this situation has endangered both their health and livelihoods. The cancellation of bonuses, the elimination of benefits, and the cutting of welfare services were among their other points of protest.
Continued Strikes Under the Shadow of War
In many industrial and service units across the country, labor protests have continued in the form of gatherings and strikes. The Arak Aluminum Factory (IRALCO), which employs around 4,000 workers, has witnessed protests and strikes over the suspension of production-increase bonuses, failure to implement the job classification scheme, and the dismissal of coworkers. The resignation of the company’s CEO and the reinstatement of the dismissed workers are among their main demands. Bakers, too, have continued their resistance, highlighting serious issues such as lack of access to income from sales, delays in government subsidies, managerial pressure, and psychological burnout. The arrest of the head of the Saqqez Bakers’ Union and several bakers following a strike is a troubling sign of security pressures on labor activists in this sector.
Nurses: The Forgotten Ones in the Moment of Unity
Another example of the exclusion of wage earners from the scope of “national unity” can be seen in the situation of nurses, workers who stand on the front lines of providing public services, yet were denied even the most basic rights at the height of the so-called “national unity.” Nurses have repeatedly stated that despite the ratification of the “special bonus” for government employees, its implementation remains suspended due to delays in the approval of the executive directive by the Cabinet. This resolution, issued by the First Vice President on June 3, 2025, has still not been enacted. As protesting nurses put it: “Israel attacked, but what was forgotten was our special bonus!” This situation is yet another sign of the government’s class-based priorities, which, even in a moment of “national threat,” relegates wage-earning and service groups such as nurses to the margins.
As part of the continued protests by healthcare workers, in recent days a group of contract workers at the Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences, including service, health, and nursing staff, held a protest gathering over months-long delays in wage payments and the lack of formal employment contracts. These workers, voicing concern about their job security, stated that despite their vital role in providing medical services, they lack job security, timely wage payments, and fair hiring conditions. This situation further illustrates that even in essential sectors and during crises such as war, the prevailing economic structure makes no effort to improve the conditions of wage earners.
Rising Bread Prices: Using the Shock of War to Implement Established Policies
Amid the heated news about the ceasefire and the clamor of supporters of the “return to the people” thesis, Tehran Chamber of Guilds announced that bread prices would soon increase. (At the time of writing this text, bread price hikes have already been implemented in some provinces.) Such a decision, made without the slightest consideration for the exhausting livelihood conditions of the general population, clearly reveals the class meaning behind the loudly proclaimed unity and how economic policymaking, even in the post-war period, remains devoted to preserving unequal relations and shifting costs onto the labor force and working masses.
As we have seen in this report, the declared “national unity” not only failed to provide any relief to workers and wage earners but also acted as a moment to consolidate the capitalist economic order. Whether at the level of high-level economic decisions such as the increase in bread prices and the delay in paying nurses’ special bonuses, or in the daily lives of workers through layoffs, wage delays, and job insecurity, the experience of workers during and after the war has been nothing but the reproduction of inequality and livelihood repression.
The “national unity” formed around the ruling power was an attempt to reconstruct state authority and the cohesion of capital in a moment of crisis, without effecting the slightest change in existing class relations. This unity was based on the structural exclusion of the working class and served as a tool for the temporary suspension of social contradictions at the ideological level, a suspension that ultimately led to a more intense resurgence of those same contradictions.
In another text, we will examine in detail the nature of this “class unity from above” and its consequences for subordinate social forces. What this report shows is only part of the reality that clearly emerged during and after the war: the working class, contrary to what slogans claim and consistent with the fundamental nature of the ruling order, remains excluded from decision-making mechanisms, resource distribution, and even national empathy.
July 16, 2025
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