According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) calendar, yesterday, Sunday, April 28th, was the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The ILO designated this day in 2003 with the aim of defining safe working conditions where workers can engage in production or service delivery while maintaining their dignity and benefiting from social protection. A key enabler of such an environment is independent workers’ organizations. The Islamic Republic has endeavored to prevent the establishment of independent workers’ organizations.
The workplace in Iran is a killing field. For example, in the past few days, under the shadow of unsafe working conditions, four workers in Gorgan, Shiraz, Tehran, and Pardis have been involved in accidents. In these accidents, three workers lost their lives, and another worker was injured. Unfortunately, not a day goes by without such horrific news being broadcast under the rule of the Islamic Republic and its capitalist employers. Thus, under the oppressive conditions created by capitalists with the help of the regime, factories and workshops in Iran have increasingly become slaughterhouses for workers rather than safe environments for production and service delivery. Looking at workplace accidents, many of which are reported in regime-affiliated newspapers, we find that most of these accidents occur due to the greed of capitalist exploiters. These capitalists, in their pursuit of profit and accumulation of capital, neglect to provide adequate safety equipment and systems in accordance with basic laws and standards in workplaces. They seek to reduce or eliminate safety regulations, leading to an increase in the number and severity of workplace accidents and worker fatalities. Additionally, it should not be forgotten that unsafe workplaces are not limited to accidents and disasters. Inadequate oxygen, excessive noise, inadequate lighting, poor ventilation, presence of hazardous materials, lack of cleanliness, and similar factors all contribute to making the work environment unsafe. Through education, installation of necessary facilities, continuous monitoring, and regular medical and psychological examinations, workplace accidents can be significantly reduced. These matters are either completely absent or merely symbolic in the Islamic Republic.
In the tragedies that Iranian workers constantly face, apart from capitalists who disregard safety regulations and trample them underfoot, the Ministry of Labour and government institutions responsible for inspecting workplaces are also involved. Incidents that lead to worker deaths are easily covered up by corrupt officials at the Labour Department, depriving workers’ families of their rights and benefiting employers. If the victim is an Afghan migrant worker, it might not even be recorded in the statistics. The Ministry of Labour always tries to downplay the statistics of workplace accidents and undermine their importance in defense of capitalists. All the incomplete and manipulated statistics indicate that under the rule of the worker-hostile Islamic Republic, workplace accidents and fatalities are among the biggest killers of workers compared to many other countries. According to censored statistics, 50% of workplace accidents occur in the construction industry in Iran. Mining is the second deadliest occupation for workers in Iran. Most workers in these two industries also lack insurance coverage. For example, out of about 2 to 3 million construction workers, only 600,000 are insured.
The reality is that in a profit-oriented capitalist system, workplace accidents and disasters always occur. However, over the years, class-based workers’ organizations in developed capitalist countries have forced governments to pass laws in favor of ensuring workplace safety by employers and have compelled employers to largely make workplaces safe by providing the necessary funding. In other words, workers’ organizations, through monitoring the performance of relevant government agencies, have created controls on employers’ compliance with safety regulations in workshops, factories, mines, and service centers, thus ensuring relatively safe working environments for their members. However, capitalists, with the help of governments in recent decades and through their economic neoliberalism, have exempted themselves from providing the necessary funding to completely secure workplaces. This shows that workplace safety is a class-related issue and is proportional to power. Since all disasters, accidents, and work-related illnesses stem from the capitalist system, these tragedies will not be eradicated until this system is overthrown through workers’ struggles. However, until the complete overthrow of this system, workplaces can be made safer to a considerable extent through the activities of workers’ organizations. It is necessary to remind ourselves in the May Day ceremonies that ensuring workplace safety is a vital issue, and it can be imposed on capitalists and their governments.
