According to Khabaronline news agency, a social security pensioner from Taleghani town of Bandar Mahshahr in Khuzestan province criticized the failure of the promise to increase pensioners’ salaries and said: I retired in 1401 and I have been retired for four years now. Mr. Minister, you yourself announced that salaries are going to increase again in September. You made this promise yourself, and we were happy with the news and waited, but there is still no news of its fulfillment. Now parliamentarians and various officials are talking about the necessity of increasing pensioners’ salaries, but why are you silent?
Ilana wrote: This retiree added: I follow the news day and night to see what decision is finally made for the retirees, but despite all these follow-ups and demands, a clear voice is still not heard from the government and the Ministry of Labor.
The promise of salary restoration amid the uncertainty of retirees
The complaints of this retiree are raised in a situation where the issue of salary review and restoration in the second half of the year, despite the plan in the negotiations of the Supreme Labor Council, has not yet reached a clear decision. At the beginning of September, the issue of forming a wage committee and re-examining the living conditions of workers was raised, and finally, on September 28, the 345th session of the Supreme Labor Council was held. The meeting ended without passing a decision on salary increase or restoration. Although it was promised at that time that this issue would be reviewed again before the end of October, this promise was not fulfilled either.
In continuation of this process, on October 21, 1405, three labor representatives, members of the Supreme Labor Council, sent an open letter to the Minister of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, citing Article 168 of the Labor Law and Clause 10 of the current year’s wage resolution, and demanded the immediate holding of an extraordinary session of the Supreme Labor Council. They emphasized that the mid-year wage revision is not a new demand or concession from the government, but rather the implementation of a mechanism that was previously recognized in the March resolution.
Despite this official protest, no specific executive action has been taken to restore the salary. Ali Babaei Karnami, the head of the social commission of the parliament, also spoke on Monday, November 18, 1405 about the necessity of advancing the negotiations of the Supreme Labor Council to the decision-making stage. Referring to the situation of retirees, he also mentioned that despite the 60% increase in wages this year, this increase was not properly reflected in the income of retirees.
Retired resident of Mahshahr, referring to his livelihood difficulties, said: Believe me, living conditions have become very difficult. Inflation is rampant and everyone is talking about the need for a pay rise, but we are still waiting to see when these promises are going to come true. The government should take care of retirees and low-income groups. We endure hardships in war conditions, but we expect the government to have our feelings.
Kalaberg did not change either/ pensioners are still waiting for livelihood support
Criticizing the stability of his credit card, the Social Security retiree said: “On the other hand, there has been no change in our credit card this month.” We hoped that Kalaberg credit would increase by 500,000 tomans per person, but this expectation was also unsuccessful. With a monthly salary of 13,500,000 tomans, how can I live in this high price? You really can’t live with this money. We endure difficult conditions, but we expect the government to have the same attitude towards retirees and low-income groups.
Referring to the constant increase in the price of basic goods in Taleghani town of Bandar Mahshahr, he added: Life here has become really difficult. The price of goods changes every day; In the morning, we go to the market for shopping, we see one price, and when we return in the afternoon, we face another price. We were happy with the salary increase and then we hoped for the promise of Kalaberg’s credit increase, but none of them came true.
The dimensions of this livelihood pressure can be seen in the gap between the living expenses and income of working and retired households. According to the independent calculations of Faramarz Tawfighi, a former member of the salary committee of the Supreme Labor Council, the cost of the livelihood basket of the working family in July has reached about 90 million Tomans. A figure that is more than twice the subsistence basket agreed upon at the time of wage determination in 1405. On the other hand, the gross income of a married worker with one child, including the base years and other benefits, is estimated at around 24 to 25 million tomans; This means that even the sum of wages and benefits covers less than one-third of the calculated living expenses.
Also, according to the statistics of Iran Statistics Center, in October 1405, monthly inflation reached 4.4%, point-to-point inflation reached 88.7%, and annual inflation reached 76.8%. These figures show that the limited reduction of spot inflation does not mean that goods and services become cheaper, and the cost of living continues to increase; A situation that reduces the purchasing power of salary earners and retirees more than before.
Removing meat from the table and reducing the consumption of chicken to once a month
Referring to the price of basic goods and its effect on his family’s table, this retiree said: “The economic pressure has really broken the back.” The price of potatoes has reached 100,000 tomans per kilo and tomatoes have reached 80,000 tomans. How much does a salaried employee earn if he buys a product for 80 thousand tomans per kilo today and buys the same product for 120 thousand tomans tomorrow? Meat has been completely removed from our table and now we have reduced the consumption of chicken to a minimum. So that maybe we can buy chicken only once in a month. People are falling under the burden of this economic pressure. We pensioners have no other support and all our hope is in this pension. The salary, which before was even lower than the current figure, has now reached 13,500,000 Tomans, but with these staggering expenses, it still cannot solve the problems of our lives.
In the end, this retiree stressed the need to address the situation of pensioners and said: We retirees expect to be able to at least cover the basic expenses of our lives after years of work and paying insurance premiums. But now, neither the promise of salary increase nor the support we expected from Kalaberg’s plan has come to fruition. We want the officials to listen to the voices of the retirees and instead of making promises and talking, take action to curb the inflation and improve the living conditions of the people.
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