From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
... workers throughout the country continue to face difficulties. More than 200 salt factories are on the brink of closure and thousands of people could lose their jobs, salt-factories representative Hassan Ebrahimi-Sarcheshmeh said. He ascribed this situation to a doubling of salt prices by the federation of salt-mining cooperatives that disregarded the Commerce Ministryâs opposition. Luristan Province railway workers who have not been paid have held another sit-in to protest nonpayment of wages. A Kurdistan Province textile factoryâs closure has left 300 people without jobs. Iraj Bahram-Nejad, a provincial House of Labor official, said that demand for the textiles is high but there is inadequate supply due to a lack of cash and raw materials, as well as mismanagement. The factoryâs machinery is not running on the grounds that it will be replaced with new machinery, he said, but it was on the same pretext that other factories were closed. Kerman Province House of Labor official Abbas Kar-Bakhsh said the Asia Textile Factory has closed because of mismanagement and a dispute between managers and shareholders, ILNA reported. This has put 110 people out of work.
... three months into the Iranian year, which began on 21 March, not only have retirees not received the bonuses the government promised them, but in some cases they have not received their regular payments. These developments come as the country deals with a 10-15 percent annual inflation rate. The government normally provides retirees with tokens worth 600,000 rials (about $75) for the purchase of goods such as oil, rice, and butter, but this year it has provided only 480,000 rials (about $60) worth of tokens. As a result ... retireesâ living standards are deteriorating. Ali Akbar Khabazha, director of the association of retirees and civil servants, said that responsible officials are not providing any information on this situation. Laborers are entitled to retirement benefits after 30 years, but because of financial difficulties many retirees must continue to work. 
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