Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company

The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Cane Sugar Company is a trade union established in 1974 for the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex. The syndicate has organized a number of successful strikes, most notablely between 2005 and 2007, initially due to workers not being paid their wages for three consecutive months. Members and leaders of the Syndicate have long been targeted for their advocacy for improved labour rights. Members of the Syndicate’s Board were detained and tortured in 2007, following their organization of a campaign and a petition with 2,500 signatures to disband the Islamic Labour Council. In November 2009, several members of the Syndicate were charged with ‘propaganda against the State’ and sentenced to prison. Following the privatization of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-industrial Complex and the changing of hands in 2015, the conditions for workers have become increasingly bad. Since then, the Syndicate has gone on strike to improve their members’ working conditions, increase their pay and guarantee their pensions. In 2017 and 2018, the Syndicate went on strike periodically, protesting unfulfilled promises made by officials.

In November 2018, a number of the Syndicate’s leaders were arbitrarily detained whilst peacefully protesting. They were released on bail in January 2019 and the majority of those detained were granted amnesty in May 2020.