Oil workers in the Iranian revolution

international | worker & community struggles and protests | other press Sunday December 07, 2008 19:39 by pat c

This is an extract from an interview with Ali Pichgah, one of the founding members of the oil workers’ shora (council) who later played an important role in the first major oil strike against the Theocracy. Ali details the oil workers actions which helped to bring down the Shah and the later struggles against the Theocracy. Comrade Pichgah is a supporter of Hands Off the People of Iran. Full text at link.

How do you assess current workers’ struggles in Iran?

First of all, I must say that as long as capitalism rules class struggle exists. The capitalist order in Iran has managed to survive through repression and force, and the spreading of religious superstition and falsehoods. However, as far as the workers’ struggle is concerned, our ranks are divided; and as long as we can’t unite on a large scale, this repression will continue. Unity requires the building of strong, mass workers’ organisations.

In the current phase of struggle, I believe Iranian workers are in a position to force the capitalists to retreat over unpaid wages, sackings, etc. However, this is only achievable when we have a unified understanding of the challenges we face, an understanding free of sectarianism.

Did your working conditions improve after the shah was overthrown?

There were only two years between the victory of the revolution and its defeat. Throughout those two years the rulers of the Islamic regime were trying to push us back and defeat us and eventually they succeeded - of course, using repression and killing many.

The war with Iraq was a godsend for them. They silenced every protest with the excuse that there was a war going on. But even during those two years the oil workers’ shora managed to win some concessions. We reduced the working day, forced management to agree to a weekend of two days (Thursday and Friday), increased workers’ pay and set up a housing cooperative - we even managed to create a small oil workers’ city. We established funds to support workers from the war zone and won full employment status for contract workers in the Iran National Oil company. The workers’ shora achieved all this.

Once when we tried to challenge discrimination in workers’ wages, they arrested me and a number of other shora delegates. They took us to Ghassr prison in Tehran, but hundreds of refinery workers came to the prison gates and they freed us that same night. Later on, however, after 1981, they managed to break our unity. All the gains we had made were destroyed.