As union and human rights activists around the world joined in an International Day of Action to express solidarity with Iranian workers and demand the release of two imprisoned Iranian labor leaders, the Iranian government responded with further arrests.

		Union members in more than 30 countries joined in the International Day of Action. Photo courtesy of ITF

The International Transport Workers Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation sponsored the International Day of Action on August 9, 2007, to free Iranian union leaders Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi.

Protests took place in more than 30 countries. In the United States, union representatives delivered letters from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, urging the government to "secure the immediate and unconditional release" of the two men.

Osanloo, president of the 17,000-member Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed), was kidnapped and beaten by plainclothes security agents on July 10, shortly after his return from ITF and ITUC meetings in London and Brussels, where crowds erupted in cheers and standing ovations upon hearing his passionate account of the challenges his union members face. He was taken to Evin Prison, where he had been sentenced in May to serve a five-year term for his role in a planned January 2006 strike, but the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office claims that he is being held not for any labor-related activities but for "advertising against the regime." Osanloo acknowledges that he was passing out leaflets when he was apprehended but says the leaflets regarded pay raises for the bus drivers and contained nothing illegal or against national security.

		Union activists from ITF affiliates in Thailand picket in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bangkok. Photo courtesy of ITF

When supporters attempted to attend a daylong open house at Osanloo’s home in Tehran as part of the International Day of Action, security and military forces surrounded the neighborhood and arrested at least seven union activists, including five Vahed members, before they could enter the home. The men are being held on unspecified charges. They are not allowed visitors, including family and attorneys, for at least one month.

Osanloo himself was finally able to meet for the first time with his attorney on August 14, more than a month after his arrest and just days after the International Day of Action. He was reportedly in good spirits but needs surgery to address a critical eye condition.

Salehi, founder of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers Unions and a leader of the Saqez Bakers Union in Kurdistan, was detained on April 9 in an action stemming from his arrest on May 1, 2004, for organizing a May Day rally in the city of Saqez. Authorities gave him no time to retrieve vital medication before shipping him to a maximum-security prison more than 200 miles away from his home. Despite numerous attempts, his family and attorneys have not been allowed to see him. Salehi suffers from chronic kidney disease, and his health is failing rapidly. He has only one functioning kidney and requires dialysis to prevent the other from shutting down.

Despite his fragile health, Salehi pledged on the eve of the International Day of Action to go on a 24-hour hunger strike to protest the arrest of 11 members of the Union of Unemployed and Dismissed workers for their participation in a recent May Day rally. "Our freedom gives this assurance to millions of workers that they can achieve their rights, including the right to organize and the independent celebration of international workers’ day, without having to pay heavily for it," he said.

Read worldwide coverage of the International Day of Action.

Learn more about the Solidarity Center's work with the global labor movement to protect Iranian worker rights.