Labor Unions Warn Workers Will Bear Brunt of Fiscal Crisis

Iranian labor and professional associations intensify criticism of the proposed budget, calling the 20% salary increase for government employees and retirees inadequate when inflation exceeds 42%. The Free Workers' Union warns that the budget institutionalizes poverty for the working class by refusing to index wages to inflation. Retired teachers and civil servants gather outside the Majlis in Tehran to demand a higher increase, in one of several small but growing public demonstrations of economic frustration.