Tehran
An estimated 10,000 Iranian workers took to the streets this week to protest the growing use of short-term employment contracts. In a complaint similar to one that recently gripped France, workers said the contracts deny them decent pay and benefits. “The contract worker is a slave, as he lives in fear of being sacked,” said textile worker Aliasghar Ghaliaf. Short-term contracts were introduced by the previous administration of pro-reform cleric Mohammad Khatami, as part of a bid to make the state-heavy economy more efficient. A spokesman for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the government was willing to review the matter.
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