DUBAI: Iranian workers – mainly in the oil and gas industry – took to the streets demanding payment of overdue wages and the implementation of the job-classification law, local media Radio Farda reported.

The labor strikes took place in southern Iran at Abadan, Parisian and Qeshm oil refineries, and in the Lamerd petrochemical complex, and South Pars oil field.

Workers at the Qeshm oil refinery said their employers do not pay them regularly. One of the refineries’ directors said the workers were demanding raises and had no problem concerning overdue salaries.

Unpaid wages and benefits in Iran in recent years have become a serious problem for employees. It has led to workers protesting across Iran, including the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Industrial Complex, in the oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Sugarcane workers in recent years have been calling for their overdue wages and demanding the company’s return of ownership to the public sector or the workers themselves.

Workers on Saturday marked their 48th day of strike action outside the complex.

In Iran, people are arrested if they participate in labor protests. Multiple workers of the Haft Tappeh Industrial Complex have been detained and sentenced to long term imprisonment.