Reports say that since March 20, truckers in the central city of Isfahan have staged a strike in protest to the rise in the prices of gasoline and motor oil. They are refusing to load their trucks at the city's Amir-Kabir loading terminal.
Truckers are demanding that the truckers' union specify new rates for carrying cargo because the current rates are insufficient to cover their costs. Some time ago, prices for truck tires had gone up as well.
Last night, the regime's Minister of Roads and Transportation announced a 20% increase in the fee for carrying cargo. Drivers, however, rejected the proposal and are continuing their strike.
In a related development, on April 3, shopowners in Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan shoemakers' bazaar staged a general strike to protest the closure of a number of shoe stores by the Government Punishment Organization. The move was to also show solidarity with shoemakers whose stores had been shut down.
To thwart the spread of the strike elsewhere, the mullahs' regime agreed to lift the ban on the shoe stores that were closed down.
It is worthy of note that on April 2, 3 and 4, taxi drivers in Malayer, 400 km southwest of Tehran, and minibus drivers operating between Malayer and Nahavand, and Malayer and Boroujerd, staged a city-wide strike to protest the price increases, particularly gasoline prices. They also demanded a hike in taxi and minibus fares.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran - Paris April 9, 1996
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