Rash of Suicides – A Sign of Desperate Times for Iranian Workers

Economic woes and long delays in receiving paychecks is taking its toll amongst Iranian labor. Suicides amongst individual workers are signs of desperation felt amongst many workers facing the situation. In the course of one week two reports of suicides have surfaced.

The Coordinating Committee to Facilitate Creation of Workers Organizations in Iran reports that on July 12, Aboubakr Mohammadi, a sixty year old worker at the Saman Rah Tavana, a civil engineering company engaged in road construction, has hanged himself. The suicide has been attributed to the economic pressures and Mahammadi not being able to make ends meet for his family.

Human Rights News Agency, HRANA, reports that on July 18, Jamshid Jamshidi, a worker at the electrical installations department of Kian Tires hanged himself around 11:00 a.m. on the factory compounds as a result of financial and psychological stress. He was rescued by his co-workers and transferred to Fayyazbakhsh hospital in Tehran.

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