Factory workers in Iran go on strike to mark 'Bloody November' when 1500 protesters were killed

Factory workers in Iran go on strike to mark 'Bloody November' when 1500 protesters were killed
Iranian factory workers have marched out of their workplaces in their hundreds as part of mass strike action to mark three years since a brutal crackdown by authorities on protesters.
2 min read
16 November, 2022
Iran has been gripped by protests for weeks following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini [Getty/file photo]

Factory workers in Iran have gone on strike as part of a solidarity movement to commemorate mass demonstrations in 2019 which were brutality suppressed by authorities. 

Hundreds of employees at the Esfahan Steel Company were seen walking out of work on Tuesday in videos shared widely online. 

15 November marked day one of three days of planned strike action by Iranian businesses and unions to collectively challenge government corruption and repression. 

The strike is exactly three years on from "Bloody November" - when authorities killed at least 1,500 demonstrators who took to the streets to protest against a sudden hike in gasoline prices. 

"Oil workers in Iran walk out. Hugely brave. Unbelievably significant," wrote British-born actor and comedian Omid Djalili. 

Footage accompanying his tweet showed hundreds of workers in yellow hard hats and overalls pouring out of a factory. 

It has not been independently verified whether the workers shown in the video were indeed oil workers. The Esfahan Steel Company can be seen in the background. 

An oil workers' strike in Iran in the late 1970s was part of a critical sequence of events that lead to the overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. 

Widespread protests in the wake of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death in custody have resulted in the most serious challenge to Tehran’s authority since the 1979 revolution. 

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Demonstrations have continued across Iran for weeks, with students walking out of classrooms and tens of thousands taking to the streets. 

Videos from Wednesday showed Iranians playing football on a busy highway in order to hold up traffic and show solidarity with the mass protests and strikes. 

Iranian authorities have responded to these peaceful demonstrations with disproportionate violence and mass arbitrary detentions 

At least 326 people have been killed over the last two months, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO. 

Government officials have threatened those detained during the protests with execution. Currently, at least 22 people arrested now face trial with charges punishable by the death penalty. 

Mahsa Amini - whose death sparked the latest round of protests - was a young Kurdish-Iranian arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab 'incorrectly'. She died just days after her arrest and was reportedly beaten by the so-called morality police.