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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
The working class has been in the process of formation since
the early twentieth century. The industrialization programs of the
Pahlavi shahs provided the impetus for the expansion of this class.
By the 1970s, a distinct working-class identity, kargar, had
been established, although those who applied this term to
themselves did not actually constitute a unified group. The working
class was divided into various groups of workers: those in the oil
industry, manufacturing, construction, and transportation; and
mechanics and artisans in bazaar workshops. The most important
component, factory workers, numbered about 2.5 million on the eve
of the Revolution, double the number in 1965, and they accounted
for 25 percent of Iran's total employed labor force
(see Labor Force
, ch. 3).
The workers within any one occupation, rather than sharing a
common identity, were divided according to perceived skills. For
example, skilled construction workers, such as carpenters,
electricians, and plumbers, earned significantly higher wages than
the more numerous unskilled workers and tended to look down upon
them. Similar status differences were common among workers in the
oil industry, textile manufacturing, and metal goods production.
The heaviest concentration of unskilled workers was in
construction, which on the eve of the Revolution employed 9 percent
of the entire labor force. In addition to relatively low wages,
unskilled construction workers had no job security.
The unions played only a passive role from the viewpoint of
workers. Under both the monarchy and the Republic, union activity
was strictly controlled by the government. Both the shah and the
government of the Islamic Republic considered strikes to be
unpatriotic and generally suppressed both strikes and independent
efforts to organize workers. Although strikes played an important
role in undermining the authority of the government during the
final months of the monarchy, once the Republic had been
established the new government embraced the view of its royalist
predecessor regarding independent labor activities. Thus the
government has considered strikes to be un-Islamic and has forcibly
suppressed them. A long history of factionalism among different
working- class occupational groups and between skilled and
unskilled workers within an industry traditionally has contributed
to the relative success of governments in controlling the working
class.
Data as of December 1987
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