Bus worker union activists jailed in Iran

international | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Tuesday November 06, 2007 00:02 by Alan MacSimoin

Last Wednesday the Tehran regime marked Halloween with some more union bashing. Ebrahim Madadi’s, vice-president of the Trade Union in the Tehran Vahed Bus Company, was sentenced to two years in jail. Mr. Madadi was tried on the allegation of acting against “national security”. I guess they really mean that unions make the Iran bosses feel insecure.

The same union’s President, Mansour Osanloo, has just had his appeal against a 5 year jail sentence rejected. He was accused of endangering national security and criticising the regime.

The international grouping of transport trade unions, the ITF, has a lot of detail on its site about how this union’s members have been subjected to a campaign of beatings, arrests, jailings and kidnapping. www.itfglobal.org/urban-transport/tehranbuses.cfm

You will also find up-to-date coverage on www.labourstart.org