The consistent struggle of the Iranian pensioners for social security and a life in dignity

Retirees continue to fight consistently for their legitimate claims. They have been organizing several nationwide protests for months.

Their struggle has become increasingly radical and their political character has gained in importance. A few days since the beginning of the new Iranian year (beginning on March 21st with the beginning of spring), they have held three nationwide protests and demonstrations.

According to the Union of Iranian Pensioners, protest meetings took place in 22 cities on Sunday, April 4th, 2021. Along with slogans for their demands, they demanded the immediate release of imprisoned teachers and workers. As usual, her main slogan was “We can only enforce our rights on the streets“. The mood was combative and it was pretty loud. A joint statement on their demands was published. In it they emphasize that the struggle for their demands, which began last year, will continue this year.

On Wednesday, April 7th, 2021, the pensioners gathered again in front of the social security authority in several cities and demanded the realization of their demands. In response to these struggles, the State Social Security CEO promised that payments to retirees would increase by 130% in the coming days. The annual pension increase and the second stage of the pension adjustment should all be transferred in April. As it turned out after the pensions were transferred, it was an empty promise and indeed a lie and attempted deception.

The scandal was so great that the ILNA news agency wrote that “the initial promises made by the CEO of the State Social Security have not been carried out”. Independent pensioner organizations knew in advance that such promises should not be trusted. Therefore, they called for a nationwide protest rally on Sunday, April 11th, 2021. Thousands of pensioners gathered in Tehran and other numerous cities in front of the social security authorities and in front of the parliament in Tehran. The protesters have confirmed that they will continue to resist until their demands are met. At all meetings it was stressed not to participate in the upcoming elections.

These consistent struggles clearly show that, despite all the obstacles and opposition from government officials, the demands of the retirees have to be accepted; that in spite of the repression and attempts at deception, as in the case of the workers’ house, the struggle of the pensioners will continue until their demands are fully met. The government of the Islamic Republic is pulling out all the stops to put an end to the retirees’ struggle

Occasionally, a government official confirmed that retirees have numerous outstanding claims from Social Security that need to be met. Others, mainly from the government-related organizations such as the Arbeiterhaus, claim that almost 90 percent of the demands would be met and urge pensioners not to organize public protests, as nothing could be achieved on the streets. Repression, intimidation, arrest and detention of protesters are also on the agenda. The pensioners have found in practice and in their struggle that there is no other way than to continue the nationwide struggle consistently on the streets. On their way they recognized the need for independent organizations and used them to enforce their demands. Only through this struggle can they be successful and force the government to make concessions and to withdraw.

Article from KAR number 915, published on April 11th. 2021