ILNA reported that the Supreme Labor Council’s Wage Committee was supposed to hold a session today, Monday, March 10, 2025, but it has been postponed to tomorrow, Tuesday. The reporter mentioned that even if the meeting is held, it will not be serious, and as usual, the announcement of the minimum wage will be delayed until the last days of March. Insiders have stated that the increase in the minimum wage for workers next year will not exceed 30%, meaning that the minimum wage for a worker covered by labor law will be 11.6 million tomans per month. Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the US dollar was 92,000 tomans yesterday and is expected to reach 100,000 tomans by early next year. A former member of the Wage Committee, based on calculations of inflation and the current cost of living, has stated that the minimum wage for next year should be 50 million tomans per month.
Based on past experiences, workers and independent labor organizations have no hope that the Supreme Labor Council’s Wage Committee will set a fair wage for workers. This is because the committee is essentially a state-controlled body that serves the interests of public and private sector capitalists. Due to the fragmented nature of labor struggles, government and employer representatives feel no real pressure when setting the minimum wage, except for the ineffective complaints of government-backed labor representatives. It must not be forgotten that while determining the minimum wage is a matter of livelihood, it also plays a significant role in the class struggle against capital owners and the state. The reality is that the Islamic Republic and, more broadly, Iran’s capitalist system are trapped in a deep economic crisis. As usual, the regime attempts to mitigate this crisis through the most accessible means intensifying the exploitation of workers.
It is worth noting that the revolutionary uprising of “Jina” has shifted the balance of power between the people and the Islamic regime. This shift has been evident in several ways: the imposition of optional dress codes by women activists, the enforcement of free public gatherings by justice-seeking groups, the large-scale Nowruz celebrations especially in Kurdistan the increased politicization of workers’ and retirees’ gatherings, and other similar developments. Clearly, labor activists can use this changed power dynamic to coordinate and unify workers’ struggles and strikes demanding wage increases and better living conditions.
A united labor movement, by consolidating its growing struggles, can force the regime and the capitalist class in Iran to improve working and living conditions. The leaders of the Islamic Republic and the employers who have seized the country’s wealth will not improve the lives of workers and their families unless they face nationwide, unified labor resistance. It must be emphasized that Iran is the tenth wealthiest country in the world in terms of resources. The Islamic Republic’s leaders and all the capitalists surrounding the regime have accumulated immense fortunes by exploiting cheap labor from male and female workers. Naturally, in the absence of a strong labor movement, they will continue to amass wealth while reinforcing their repression apparatus.
By relying on the millions of unemployed as a reserve army, spreading poverty and division, and using prisons and the judiciary, they have been able to impose the harshest working conditions and the lowest wages on workers. Today, as the working class and its future generations face existential peril, only a powerful labor movement can halt this deterioration. Such a movement, in connection with other social movements, could lead to the revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
To build a strong labor movement, current struggles must move beyond fragmentation. The urgent demands of the working class must become the cause of all workers employed and unemployed, male and female, skilled and unskilled, contract and permanent on a national scale. Achieving this requires expanding communication among labor activists nationwide. Through active participation in ongoing workers’ struggles and by strengthening class solidarity within these movements, it is possible to shift the balance of power in favor of workers and place the labor movement in a better position for organization and achieving its demands.
