Free Republic

Mansour Osanlou, the leader of Tehran's municipal bus service union, was reportedly assaulted by an inmate in an Iranian prison, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The trade unionist was not injured in the attack, which occurred at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, on February 22. Osanlou was arrested in July 2007 after being abducted on the street by security forces. He is serving a five-year prison term for what authorities say was acting against "national security." He had been detained several times between 2005-2007. Canadian-based labor activist Mehdi Kouhestaninejad told RFE/RL that Osanlou has been persecuted in prison by...

<p>A dissident Iranian labour leader who is serving a five-year jail sentence has been hospitalised with a heart problem, a source close to him said yesterday. Mansoor Osanloo, leader of a union grouping bus drivers, was detained in July last year for "distributing statements against the system" and a judiciary official was in October quoted as saying he had been sentenced to jail.</p>

Latest Statement of Tehran and Suburbs Public Transport Trade Union 2006-02-18 Latest Statement of Tehran and Suburbs Public Transport Trade Union English Translation by Marze Por Gohar Party Thank you all the union workers around the world that in defense to Tehran and Suburbs Public Transport Trade Union announced a solidarity day on Feb 15th 2006 and expressed their protest to anti-union activity to the authorities of the Islamic Republic. Tehran and suburb buss-driver union remind the 3 of its numerous needs 1. The Islamic Republic shall fully and officially recognize the union. 2. Without any conditions release detained union...

Bus Workers Go On Strike in Prison Bahram Rafiee Feb. 5, 2006 Iran’s domestic media have been banned from publishing news on the government crackdown of the strike of bus drivers who again took to the streets in protest of their conditions. There are news reports that many arrests have followed the government clampdown and that those arrested had been transferred to the harsh 209-ward of the notorious Evin prison in northern Tehran. There are also reports that the prisoners have gone on a hunger strike to protest their imprisonment. Khedmat, an internet news site close to hardline president Ahmadinejad...

Iran: Release Workers Arrested for Strike Hundreds Detained for Planning Protest (New York, February 1, 2006) – The Iranian government has responded to a strike planned by Tehran’s bus drivers for January 28 by preemptively detaining hundreds of drivers, including several union organizers, Human Rights Watch said today. Most of the workers remain in detention without charge or access to counsel. Human Rights Watch called on the Iranian government to release them immediately. The bus drivers, members of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, had organized the strike to protest the detention of their union...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement 2 February 2006 IRAN: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR RELEASE OF BUS WORKERS Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to release immediately hundreds of Tehran bus workers who were detained last week apparently to pre-empt threatened strike action. Although some of the workers have been released, hundreds are reported still to be detained without charge or trial at Tehran’s Evin Prison. The arrests began after the executive committee of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, which represents workers employed by the United Bus Company of Tehran (Sharekat-e Vahed), called for...