The Iran Labour Confederation – Abroad (ILC) has issued an urgent letter to international trade unions and organizations, warning about the critical situation facing workers at the Iran Aluminum Company (IRALCO) in Arak. According to the letter, after more than 40 days of protest, a number of workers switched their hunger strike to a dry hunger strike (refusing both food and water) on 9 September 2025, and on 10 September 2025 several were taken to hospital in worsening condition.

The ILC notes that IRALCO is the country’s largest aluminum producer, employing over 4,000 workers, and stresses that the workers’ demands are clear and reasonable: timely payment of wages and an end to arrears; improved safety and working conditions; a review of the job classification scheme; renovation of worn-out equipment; guarantees of job security; and an end to temporary and contractor-based employment. The letter also refers to judicial pressure in August 2025 against 36 workers— including the referral of 5 workers to court on charges of “disturbing public order.”

The confederation calls on global unions to publicly condemn the Government of Iran and IRALCO’s management, to apply immediate pressure through the ILO, the Committee on Freedom of Association, IndustriALL, and the ITUC, to organize practical solidarity campaigns and protest actions at Iranian diplomatic missions, and to hold the Iranian government responsible for any human catastrophe resulting from the dry hunger strike.

Trade unions, human-rights organizations, and all forces in solidarity with the working class worldwide,

We, the Iran Labour Confederation – Abroad (ILC), write with profound concern—and anger—over the conditions imposed on the workers of the Arak Aluminum Plant (IRALCO) in Iran.

For more than 40 days, thousands of workers at this plant have engaged in a hunger strike to protest their employer’s and the government’s neglect of their legitimate demands. Yesterday, Tuesday, 9 September 2025, a number of workers escalated their protest to a dry hunger strike—refusing both food and water—while sit-ins and assemblies on the factory grounds continued. According to credible reports from inside the factory and social media, today, Wednesday, 10 September 2025, several workers have been hospitalized in critical condition—and this trend is ongoing.

Last month (August 2025), as part of a broader clampdown, judicial cases were opened against 36 IRALCO workers for their industrial action. The prosecutor’s office declined to pursue charges against 31 of them, but 5 were indicted on charges of “disturbing public order,” and their cases have been referred to court for trial. These workers now face possible prison sentences for nothing more than asserting their rights—an overt violation of the right to protest.

The workers’ demands are simple and self-evident:

• Timely payment of wages and an end to arrears;
• Improved working conditions and safety;
• A review of the job-classification scheme;
• Rehabilitation and modernization of worn-out production equipment to prevent shutdown;
• Removal of the controlling shareholder to avert potential bankruptcy and stabilize the company;
• Job security guarantees and an end to precarious, short-term, and contractor-based employment.

The response from management and state authorities has been silence, denial, and indifference—forcing workers into a form of protest that directly endangers their lives.

IRALCO (Iran Aluminum Company) in Arak is the country’s first and largest aluminum producer, employing over 4,000 workers. As a basic industry in Iran, it has repeatedly been the site of labor protests against wage arrears, temporary contracts, and severe livelihood pressures. Today’s crisis is a continuation of a long-standing pattern that has trapped workers in poverty, job insecurity, and rightlessness. Privatization policies since the late 2000s, implemented without adequate support and plagued by mismanagement, have exacerbated wage arrears, equipment decay, and employment instability.

The roots of this situation lie in the Iranian government’s repressive labor policy. Attempts by workers to form independent organizations are systematically crushed. Existing entities such as the so-called Islamic Labor Councils function as instruments of state control and demobilization—not as genuine representatives of the working class. This systematic repression has left workers without organizational or legal recourse, driving them toward the most dangerous forms of protest, including dry hunger strikes.

We remind the international community that Iran is a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Even though it has not ratified Conventions 87 and 98 (Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining), it remains bound to uphold the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. What is happening in Arak is a flagrant breach of these principles—and, more gravely, an assault on the right to life and freedom of association.

We call on trade unions and international bodies to:

1. Publicly condemn the Government of Iran and the management of the Iran Aluminum Company in Arak.
2. Apply immediate pressure through all available channels—the ILO, its Committee on Freedom of Association, and global union structures such as IndustriALL Global Union and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)—to secure compliance with the workers’ demands.
3. Organize practical solidarity campaigns with the Arak aluminum workers, from public statements to protest actions at the offices and embassies of the Islamic Republic.
4. Hold the Government of Iran directly responsible for any human catastrophe resulting from the workers’ dry hunger strike.

Colleagues, the lives of the Arak aluminum workers are in immediate danger. Silence and inaction now would amount to complicity in the repression and destruction of these workers. We demand a swift, coordinated response from the global labor movement and international organizations to avert disaster and to amplify the voice of Iran’s workers across the world.

With hope for solidarity and urgent action,

Iran Labour Confederation – Abroad (ILC)
10 September 2025