Ahead of May 1st, once more the repressive
apparatus of regime was put in motion to intimidate workers and labour
activists with the aim to prevent may 1st rallies. Khaled Hosseini,
vafa Ghaderi, Koorosh Bakhshandeh were summoned to the headquarter of the
Ministry of Intelligence and Security "MOIS" in the city of Sanandaj
and other worker activists such as Mohammad Abdipour, Omar Shakeri and Ismael
Niazi were threaten on the phone to refrain from participating in the
celebration of International Workers´ Day. Nevertheless, the workers hold their
rallies under sever surveillance conditions in different cities around the
country.
The workers staged May 1st rallies in Sanandaj,
Kamyaran, Marivan, Mahabad, saqqez, Paveh, Nosoud, Nodeshe and Naghadeh,
Baneh, Oshnavieh, one of the cities in province Gilan, Damavand city (70 km
from terhan), Lavasan region (30 km from Tehran) and a group of immigrant
workers in district Kan of Tehran.
The rally in Sanadaj city was attacked by the special
unit forces and many were arrested. Up to this moment the names of seven arrested
workers have been identified (Farhad Zandi, Hamid Tarimoradi, Zahed Banafshi,
Farzad Hossien Panahi, Mohammad Latifi, Shirkou Kordi and Houshayr).
Despite all the intimidating measure exerted by the
employer and security forces, in Tehran,
the members of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Drivers
Syndicate attended in some terminals and met their colleagues and staged a
rally at the main bus Terminal at Azadi square. This rally was ended by signing
a petition for release of Reza Shahabi. Afterwards they visited the association
to support the working and street children.
In an another rally, more than 50 workers and retired workers
(the supporter of 30,000 workers petition) gathered in front of the Islamic Parliament
in Tehran to protest the gravity of a shocking minimum wage, approved by the
Cabinet. They came from various factories, including workers of Iran Khodro,
PARS Kimidaro, shipbuilding, Pars Electric company, hospitals, Minoo company,
Mahshahr Petrochemical company, Khuzestan steel, construction workers, Tehran chemical,
metal industry companies number 1 and 2, Alborz rubber factory and some other
industrial centers. 
Also the political prisoners in Gohardasht prison also
gathered on May 1st in hall # 12 of this prison. They, among them
the imprisoned labour activist Shahrokh Zamani, sang revolutionary songs and read
aloud essays about the current situation of labour movement and labour struggles.
In central
prison of city Tabriz a small gathering was organized by imprisoned labour
activist Mohammad Jarahi, who distributed some sweets.