In a grand celebration marking Workers’ Week and International Workers’ Day on May
1st, attended by Dr. Sahraei, the Governor of Kermanshah, Engineer Shokri, Head of the Industry and Mining House of the province, and the President of the Employers’ Association of the province, along with the Director General of Labor and Social Welfare of the province, a gathering of government officials, private sector representatives, and factory workers from Kermanshah Province took place at the Business and Technology Center of Bistoon Industrial City. According to the public relations report from Shokri Group, Engineer Shokri, in his congratulatory remarks for Workers’ Week, referred to the change from International Workers’ Day to Workers’ Week after the revolution and emphasized the need to address the existing challenges in the province to ensure sustainable employment.
Jahanbakhsh Shokri highlighted the major issue facing the industry in Kermanshah Province as the inadequate supply of electricity, stating that approximately 2,000 megawatts of electricity are generated, with only 160 megawatts allocated to industrial use. This amount, combined with agricultural and household consumption, totals 900 megawatts, while 1,100 megawatts are exported from the province.
He urged the Governor to ensure that Kermanshah, despite not being a developed city and not classified as an industrial province, receives the minimum required electricity for its industrial sector to operate effectively, produce, and provide employment opportunities for its workforce.
Shokri emphasized: “If we gather statistics on the province’s workforce, we’ll find that workers are willing to have their home electricity cut off rather than the production electricity. Additionally, with the arrival of winter, we face gas shortages which lead to the closure of our units, creating problems for the working community and affecting the economic and living conditions of workers. Regarding the controlled pricing of production units, Shokri mentioned: “Given the significantly low wages of workers, which imposes pressure on the working community, the government can support producers by allowing them to increase workers’ wages through subsidies.” He also highlighted another challenge facing industrial units, which is the reduction in their circulating capital due to inflation. He pointed out: “Last year, a production unit with a capital of 10 billion Tomans could continue its operations. This year, this amount has increased by 40 to 50 percent. However, the provincial banks’ limit is not more than 15 billion Tomans, and if a producer requires more, they must go through stringent procedures to obtain approval and access to circulating capital.” He expressed hope that this issue would be addressed and that the minimum limit of our banks would increase, similar to branches in Isfahan, Yazd, or a branch from Tehran. Shokri described employers and workers as frontline soldiers in the economic battlefield, stating: “I always say employers are also workers with greater responsibilities. Today, we stand together with all workers, hoping to achieve quality production and free our country from any dependencies.” At this ceremony, attended by the Governor and other officials, exemplary workers from the knowledge-based company Jahan Sanat
Kermanshah were honored.
