This [branch/committee/other body] notes the ongoing revolutionary uprising in Iran spearheaded by women and young people, sparked by protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, foregrounding issues of women’s rights and opposition to gender apartheid, but also raising issues of social freedom and equality and demanding their right to democratically determine their future through their own councils and direct representatives.
This [body] further notes the workers’ protests and strikes, involving teachers; nurses; oil, gas and petrochemical workers; steel workers; Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers, and many others. Despite decades of repression, war, and bearing the brunt of economic sanctions, workers in Iran have continued their tradition of militant action and struggled for recognition of the right to form their own independent organisations and to strike.
This [body] further notes the recent establishment of the Solidarity with the Iranian Workers’ Movement Committee, chaired by John McDonnell MP.
This [body] believes international solidarity with all working-class and democratic struggles for freedom is a core labour movement principle, and supports the struggles of Iran’s workers, women, and youth against the Islamic Republic.
This [body] in support of the workers’ movement in Iran therefore resolves:
– To support work of the Solidarity with the Iranian Workers’ Movement Committee, circulate its materials to members, and invite a speaker from the committee to a future meeting
– To promote local mobilisations in support of the uprising in Iran to members, and organise a distinct, visible trade union presence on such mobilisations
– To submit this motion to [relevant higher/national body within union] to mobilise support at [regional/national] level
– To specifically support workers’ struggles in our sector in Iran, and aim to make direct links with the workers involved if possible
– To request that the national union audits whether we organise workers at companies or in supply chains that have economic interests in Iran or ties to the Islamic Republic, to establish whether action by our members could directly aid workers’ struggles in Iran
– To condemn the killing, mass arrest and execution of protestors since 16 September 2022.