Workers protest to the sale of a factory in Arak (a city north-west of the capital) to a single individual, enters its fifth week. ISNA, Iran’s Student’s News Agency, quotes M R Jalal-Vandi the head of Avangan Company’s workers union who said 92% of the company’s shares were bought by one individual in Iran’s exchange market. The sale, he said, is unacceptable to the workers as the minister of Industry and mining allocated 33% of the factory’s shares to the workers in a visit, three years ago.
Avangan is a factory producing power pylons and steel bullion. It was set up at 1980 in Arak with an initial workforce of 700.
Jalal-vandi said the workers are demanding their entire shares and are not willing to compromise over one share even. They demand all 33% of the shares they were allocated.
The head of the workers union in Arak said the factory was undersold with favorable terms and conditions. The individual buyer paid 12 billion Toman ($1.400 million) in total of which 40% was cash and the rest in installments. He believes the factory has around $2.5 million worth of raw materials while the machinery alone are worth more than and red headbands one billion dollar.
Every day of the past five weeks workers have been wearing white shrouds and red headbands after work and congregate outside the factory gate, chanting slogans against the sale of the factory. (In Islam a dead person is buried rapped in white shroud. Wearing it live with red head- bands is the symbol of being ready for martyrdom.)
Jalal-Vandi said in following up the workers demands, the union representatives are in contacts with authorities but no final conclusion has yet been reached.
