![\"Rail](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/Rail-Workers-Strike-Over-Unpaid-Wages-Continues.jpg\" "\\"Rail-Workers-Strike-Over-Unpaid-Wages-Continues\\"")
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By Staff Writer<\/p>\n
A rail workers group in Iran has issued a statement saying that workers will remain on strike until their demands are met.<\/p>\n
The rail workers have been on strike across Iran since July 20, in cities like Arak, Azarbaijan, Isfahan, Khorasan, Lorestan, and Zanjan, demanding the payment of their two-month overdue salaries.<\/p>\n
The statement demands that the several thousand workers, who are responsible for maintaining the country\u2019s rail lines, are paid their back salary. They\u2019ve also demanded permanent contracts, an immediate end to layoffs, insurance benefits, the right to form a union, and the right to protest.<\/p>\n
The Hassan Rouhani government has repeatedly promised to see that the wages are paid, but this has not materialised into any sort of action.<\/p>\n
Protest by mill workers<\/p>\n
Of course, rail workers are not the only ones protesting overdue wages. Hundreds of workers at the Haf Tapeh sugar cane mill gathered outside the industrial complex\u2019s management office for the second day in a row on Saturday to protest unpaid wages.<\/p>\n
According to a statement issued by the Haf Tapeh workers union back in April, they hadn\u2019t received their wages for months and had not received their New Year\u2019s bonus in March.<\/p>\n
The owner of the complex blamed imported sugar for reducing the cost and making the business still profitable, but during a protest back in January worker Isma\u2019eil Bakhshi explained that the workers had no money either and that they should take over the operations themselves. He and several other protesters were arrested.<\/p>\n
Uprising<\/p>\n
Iran has seen mass protests on a daily basis since December, after a draft budget which slashed subsidies for the poor in favour of more military spending was released. The protests soon attracted people with a whole myriad of complaints and eventually morphed into a general anti-regime uprising. Many people blame the Regime for prioritising foreign warfare and support for terrorism over the safety and welfare of the Iranian people.<\/p>\n
This spread quickly to at least 142 cities in Iran across all 31 provinces, over four months before the US withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal. Since the withdrawal, protests against the Regime and the failing economy have only increased. Now, even those groups traditionally loyal to the Regime have taken to the streets.<\/p>\n
The Regime has tried to put the blame for the protests on \u201cforeign enemies\u201d but the reality is that the financial situation for the working class is dire; with minimum wage working out at $200 per month.<\/p>\n