The Green Movement without Workers

Ebrahim, a young man from Kermanshah who has traveled to a south-western port city in Iran in search of work, confirms the same sentiment: “At least, Ahmadinejad cares about workers. Although I have not, my brother-in-law received a loan from the bank last week. Ahmadinejad personally ordered the bank to approve this loan.” In the first four years of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, the Office of the President has acted to solve the people’s small problems [by giving them hand-outs], and what Ebrahim refers to is part of the phenomenon that in Iran’s political literature is called populism.

Introduction

Unlike the students and women, why have the workers failed to join Iran’s so-called Green Movement?  Some analysts point to the repression of the workers’ struggles, their dispersed protests, and the lack of specific organizations to coordinate their activities as the main cause of their absence in the Green Movement. Nevertheless, the labor movement exists as a latent force within the Green Movement and requires only a spark to erupt.

This article looks at social classes not in terms of income, which has been the dominant approach in the past and is still pursued by some. Instead, approach is that the jobs that individuals hold and the way these jobs generate income are the basis for determining the configuration of social forces.

In the light of this approach, the question can be repeated: why is the labor movement not active in the Green Movement?

The problem is that the question implies that Iranian workers are either passive or have refused to join the Green Movement. The people who support this position point to the inability of workers to organize widespread strikes across the country and the general absence of street demonstrations in smaller cities that are heavily populated by working class families. 

This article does not intend to answer the question regarding the gap that separates the labor movement from the Green Movement because such a venture requires a lengthier and more elaborate discussion by experts. Instead, this report will approach the issue from another angle.

The Workers’ Movement, Latent or Silent?

As mentioned earlier, some observers believe that the labor movement in Iran has the potential to turn into a popular movement. However, there are some obstacles that prevent the actualization of this potential at the present. The regime’s efforts to stifle labor unions in embryo and relentless suppression of civil protests, along with the arrests of activists in the labor movement and the dispersal of this class, are only some of the barriers that thwart the alliance of workers with the protesting Green Movement.

But are such barriers the only factors that distance the workers from the body of Green Movement? Mahmoud, a welder who works in a factory in southern Iran, thinks differently: “I don’t know anything about politics; I don’t side with anyone. No one cares about us. No one cares about our sufferings.”

Perhaps, it is for this reason that some analysts have attributed the relative success of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the ninth Presidential election to the disillusionment of the working class with the reforms that Khatami and his supporters tried to implement (Taghi Rahmani, “The Workers’ Movement and Its Central Demand,” Asr-Nou Website, May 3, 2010).

Ebrahim, a young man from Kermanshah who has traveled to a south-western port city in Iran in search of work, confirms the same sentiment: “At least, Ahmadinejad cares about workers. Although I have not, my brother-in-law received a loan from the bank last week. Ahmadinejad personally ordered the bank to approve this loan.”

In the first four years of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, the Office of the President has acted to solve the people’s small problems [by giving them hand-outs], and what Ebrahim refers to is part of the phenomenon that in Iran’s political literature is called populism.

To Ebrahim and people like him, it does not matter that the payment of these little loans has pushed the economy toward a major crisis. While Ebrahim moves to the cash register in a grocery store to pay for a can of tuna and a loaf of bread for his dinner, he tells the storekeeper, who appears to be from his hometown, in his local accent that he would be fired from the factory in a few days.

The wave of reductions in the workforce of private firms, which has resulted from financial woes and lack of funds, will soon affect him as well. These problems are the direct consequence of the worsening economic conditions in the last few years. Nonetheless, Ebrahim still hopes to receive his loan.

On the other hand, Sadeq, who, along with his roommates, has watched Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s debate with Mir Hossein Musavi, praises Ahmadinejad’s courage in challenging Hashemi Rafsanjani’s family and hopes that his reelection will expose the Rafsanjani family’s financial corruption. But Sadeq, who adheres to the teachings of Islam, does not endorse Ahmadinejad’s defamation of Mr. Musavi’s wife and his accusations against the people who are not present in this debate to defend themselves.

Although there are educated individuals and other people among the urban population who tolerate and even approve of Ahmadinejad’s populist behavior, the payment of cash subsidies, the enactment of bills passed by previous governments amidst too much uproar, and the periodical increase of workers’ and employees’ salaries, along with the slogans that express support for society’s destitute classes, have at times affected more than one third of the employed workforce in Iran.

Another factor that has caused the relative indifference of the working class toward the reforms, which also characterize the Green Movement’s activities, has much in common with what the experts describe as “the disillusionment of the middle class.” Caused chiefly by economic circumstances, this disillusionment has resulted from the people’s inability to meet the cost of living. With increasing inflation and unfitting conditions of employment, incomes are hardly sufficient to make ends meet. To cope with the daily increasing needs, people are compelled to work more hours or find other ways to put bread on the table. That is why they rarely have any time to study or follow the current events closely. This situation can contribute to the spread of passivity and unconsciousness among the members of this class.

Mahmoud rests during his free hours to save his energy for working a double shift. He works multiple shifts during the week in order to spend the weekend with his family and avoid borrowing money in the coming month. Of course, work can be scant at times and Mahmoud is not always satisfied with his work. Under these circumstances, he prefers to think about the future and engage in a bit of work by looking for engine parts in a repair shop.

The Labor Movement: Influential or Influenceable?

We can engage more meaningfully in these discussions only if we assume that the contributions of the working class are vital to the success of Green Movement’s democracy-seeking efforts.

Some analysts argue that the active presence and solidarity of society’s elites and thinkers are enough to ensure a social movement’s victory and secure its democratic objectives. These experts point to the historical experiences of democratic countries in which certain movements have gained the support and sympathy of various classes, including the working class, little by little. If that is the case, the premise for this discussion, which demands the participation of the working class in the movement, will fall flat and give its place to another question: does the Green Movement respond to the current and future demands of the working class? Will the workers gain their legitimate rights if the movement realizes its objectives? Will the elites in this movement fill the vacuum that the indifference of previous policymakers to the workers’ needs has left behind?

Undoubtedly, Iran’s dispersed and disunited working class has its own peculiar perspective, worries, and preoccupations, but answering these questions can perhaps bring the working class to the side of Green Movement.  This, in turn, might help the labor movement achieve its ideals in a more effective way.