Addressing Workers' Day celebration attended by scores of workers in Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini on Monday morning, Iran’s President described job insecurity as the worst kind of insecurity saying “the government has spared no effort to provide welfare and bright future for workers.”
He urged workers to follow path of Imam Khomeini and joint hands to double efforts in line with bringing more dignity to the country.
The official deemed it as necessary to perceive realities of workers’ lives for business atmosphere management adding “for years, workers were neglected as only 76 thousand jobs were created in the eight years prior to the incumbent government.”
Rouhani said the figure clearly revealed the difficult conditions suffered by workers and in the face of these difficulties, two possibilities exit one being mere promises of better futures in words and the other being realization of facts and planning for sustainable development of people’s lives, workers in particular.
President Rouhani said the first step was to improve business atmosphere in a bit to hire more workers; “in the absence of freedom in choosing one’s job, workers will be forced to opt for tough occupations with low salaries.”
He further pointed to self-sufficiency in wheat production as a dream of farmers and workers which came true in the previous Iranian calendar year. He stressed that, in addition to supplying domestic demand, even three million tons of the product could now be exported abroad. President of Iran also referred to launch of Setareh Khalije Fars Gas Condensate Refinery on Sunday which made the country self-reliant in gasoline production.
“Progress can be attained only through rationality and action rather that slogans as evidence by steps taken by the incumbent government,” he continued. “A total of two million jobs were created though three million people are still unemployed. Over 24,000 inactive enterprises became operational in the previous year while tens of thousands of other production units are still dormant and need due attention.
The official emphasized that, in addition to investment attraction, workers also need to be respected and their wages must be proportionate with their costs. Later, Rouhani touched upon the efforts to tackle inflation in recent years since high rates mainly damage the lower strata of the country.
Hassan Rouhani recalled that the country’s economic growth rate grew from -6.8% to 8% as well as that South Pars gas output climbed from 240 million cubic meters to 570 million cubic meters.
He said all measured had been taken to provide welfare for workers; “the day I took office, I urged Labor Minister Rabiei to increase salaries of workers and give them accommodation facilities if they have two disabled members in the family, a task which was successfully accomplished.”
He underlined that workers, in addition to higher salaries, would like to see their products being deployed to international markets. Iranian products are now being shipped to northern, western and eastern neighbors thanks to measures taken by the government.
Rouhani also pointed to the upcoming presidential elections and deemed the election’s day an occasion when the nation cast votes on their lives and the country’s destiny.
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