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Iranian Truck Drivers Launch Strike in Seven Provinces


In this image sent to VOA by an Iranian social media user, Iranian truck owners and drivers stage a strike on May 22, 2018, with a sign on their vehicles saying they are upset about increasing costs of road tolls and spare parts while salaries remain stagnant.
In this image sent to VOA by an Iranian social media user, Iranian truck owners and drivers stage a strike on May 22, 2018, with a sign on their vehicles saying they are upset about increasing costs of road tolls and spare parts while salaries remain stagnant.

Iranian truck owners and drivers have launched a strike in seven of Iran's 31 provinces to protest poor working conditions.

Iranian social media users shared details and images of Tuesday's strike with VOA Persian. They said it involved truckers in the provinces of Fars, Hormozgan, Isfahan, Kerman, Khorasan Razavi, Lorestan and Qazvin.

In one video clip sent to VOA Persian and posted on the VOA Farsi Twitter account, a female truck driver says she is joining the strike in solidarity with her colleagues. She also identifies her location as a highway to the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

Images of the truckers shared on social media showed them holding signs complaining about their costs rising while their salaries stagnate. The truckers said the rising costs included insurance, road tolls, commissions, repairs and spare parts.

It was not clear how long the strike would continue. There was no immediate response to the truckers' demands from Iranian authorities on state media.

Various Iranian industries have seen an increase in strikes and protests this year by workers fed up with local and national officials and business owners, whom they accuse of mismanagement and corruption.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Persian service.

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