throat.
to RICHARD CARVER.
He begins by organised.
Immediately the strike comSOnIC representatives. people organised and planned for the strike together.
But these representative were not the leaders of the strike. They came together to TOrM the staff workers association, because under the aDOUr staff employees don't have any unions or sylucales.
You as representatives were directis assemblies of workers?
Yes. We started our strike and after three days the labourers joined us. The result was that producnon dropped about 800,000 barrels a day the average production is about 6.5 million a day.
About 250,000 to 350,000 of that domestic Iranian consumption, the exports. This meant that 40 ICSL ocean tankers were kept idle at Kharg Island because there was no oil to be exported. IT IS the oil workers, more than any other section of the population, who are holding the knife to the Shah's But it is rare for Western readers to get a first-hand account of what is going on in the oil fields. Last month a leader of the clerical workers in the oil industry in Ahvaz was in London and gave this exclusive interview explaining how the strike was What were vour demands at this stage?
At the start our demands were These welfare demands: for example, for increased wages, schemes, housing and medical But because our strike was a erecion orne movement o. the masses in Iran, the strike There were three political demands: abolition of martial law, support for the teachers, who had been on strike for about two months, unconditional freedom for the pontical prisoners political forces involved in the strike. We have heard reports that the ludeh Party plays a role leadership.
No. No political party or group had any active role in SHEIK CA The movement of the people in Iran is not followed There are socialists, there are Moslems, there are National Front but most people have taken part irrespective of what these people say. How does the strike relate to me rengious opposition. wnen we went on suke wi found that there were leaflets hanging on the walls. we decided not to let them put these up because some workers said that our strike was not political.
So the representatives and talked matter: do we have the right to take them away conclusion we reached was that we are fighting for democracy so these people can hang them benefit on the wall.
But would you say that the majority of oil sympathetic to the religious heaters Yes. of course. Our religion 1s Islam and it is obvious that the majority would be sympathetic to them. and Did pontical discussions take place in the course of the strike?
were about those three political actanas came to the strike and they would in the happening and communicate with each other and Iney would advise us wnal our to do.
I was wondering, for example, if at the point when the troop: occupied the question came up workers taking over control of the oil industry for themselves? When they sent soldiers into a over 105 or should we wall h workers are corridors of the DOmCumCS SoCaKer.
would •Was let us assemble.
WC In Abadan workers main office there until night.
Curtew refineries the of the went out arrested. Ahvaz and Abadan, we went to the central office in Ahvaz.
Everybody gathered in the badly main office, bayonet outside. We gathered outside in -TOTCCO kianey. Iney car park, but again the! a Tested forced us to go back and after nobody died. three or four days they didn't It was some of the went to une renner and sat there in front of the They let them sit Was at 12.00. At strikes end? 11.45 they told them that they had to go out, because if they they would be They refused to go so the back to work.
they PLONTa soldiers attacked them bayonets and one of them was injured because the had torn off his - were taken to hospital and some of them were La matter occupyins ine lactory or once - they just sat down and said WC dIC HUL LOmE LO TOYO How did the first wave of oil This was the first strike most workers had taken part in and • about 25 days thev tired and said they wanted to go Yes Britain to increase exports by the amount of the shorttall before it can keer more for domestic use.
As Britain's oil prices already exceed the new OPEC rates, the discomfiture could mean greater profits for at least section of SHORTAGES This has been kept very quiet by the British press. WIENERG of a tanker drivers strike, they are extra keen to blame oil shortages on workers Tamer than on cartels Nevertheless, capitalism has no interest in the fall of the Shah. No winners in without the Shah' commented the city pages of the Daily Telegraph.
paper's geographica might be outDUT pungent analysis: businesses trading with ine sian are in c situation', announced solemnly Aerospace and the Ministry of Defence must be wondering whether the yet Shah will ever pay for those tanks and Rapier missiles that they continue to consumers by the cut-off are South Africa and Israel, 90 and 60 percent of their domestic needs supplied from Iran.
apartheid regime is The company also tricked people by threatening to sack people if they did not go back to work. Some people who had 20 or su years wii tic commodes knew that if they were sacked they would lose everything and had to think of their families.
So they went back to work but some people stayed out saying they would stay out to the last. And they did But we found that about 4 million barrels a day was being exported. So we said: this is not a real strike because all this oi is being exported so we had better go back and talk to these people and encourage them to go back on strike.
And that's what's happening now?
Yes. Another thing is that they brought in about 200 retired workers to come and operate production -UnILS They failed so they brought in 200 sailors to do the work. So we decided to go back and organise another strike.
What do you think will happen HOW"
I think if our strike continues, tor LWO MOHIS. government cannot continue and has to fall.
Do you think the strike will continue!
Yes, I think so.
Until all those demands are met? reluctant to use up its stockpiles the protracted political crisis in southern CONS because of the relatively small part played by oll in its overall energy needs and is still on the verge of introducing restrictions on oil consumption.
Israel has always tried to diversify its sources of oil to avoid just such a crisis as this, but Iran assumes an obvious importance as the main oil OUTSICE the Afro Arab bloc Israeli leaders have deemed it politically sensible not to publicise the problems caused by the oil shortage, but they have had talks with the US government in Washington on whether to launch a contingency plan for the emergency supply of oil.
PROBLEM The US faces a political problem here, since it is also prevailing upon Saudi Arabia to mercase is exports to cover the Iranian shortfall.
But political problems might resolved by the old-fashioned method of the gunboat. • Pentagon has sent a naval task force from the accompanied by unconvincing denials that this has anything to do with Iran.
The coming days may be ones of celebration at the Shah getting his CORIC LD DaLICC They will also have to be ones of watchfulness at what the world's rulers are up to next.
Socialist Challenge 4 January 1979 Page 3