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Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages

A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
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Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages

A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo

Social media posts on Saturday purported to show a group of protesting oil workers in southern Iran demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses.

The reported oil workers’ protests, which Reuters could not verify, comes amid an uprising across Iran, the boldest challenge to the republic since the 1979 revolution.

The nationwide protests were triggered by the Sept. 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran's Kurdish region, for wearing "inappropriate attire”.

Iran's oil ministry was not immediately available to comment.

The activist HRANA news agency said on Saturday that a group of oil workers protested outside the Pars Oil and Petrochemical Company in Asaluyeh in the southern Bushehr Province on the Gulf coast.

It said in addition to wage increases and pension bonuses, the removal of high income taxes and salary cap, improved welfare services and health conditions were among the protesters’ demands.

A combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and Bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in the Iranian revolution four decades ago.

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Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Thousands of Spaniards rallied in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination.
People held up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living,” and “The people without homes uphold their rights.”
The issue has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world.
The average rent for Spain has doubled in the last decade. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in country with chronically high unemployment.
Protestor Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they renovate it and boost the price.
“Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.”
A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters in that strained economic circumstance.
“We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory.