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EI joins the International Transport Federation and other Global Union Federations in a Global Action Day in solidarity with Iranian workers and teachers on 6 March 2008.

A delegation will visit the Iranian embassy in Brussels to deliver a letter requesting the immediate release of all trade unionists detained in connection with legal trade union activities and the respect of fundamental trade union rights.

The campaign focuses on Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi from the Iranian bus workers' union. They are detained on the claim that they are "threats to the national security," while the reality is that they are simply carrying out genuine trade union activities which the authorities want to crush.

EI representatives and other members of the delegation will express regret that the oppression of the independent workers' movement in Iran is escalating. The ILO's Freedom of Association Committee in June 2007 stressed that the Iranian government must take "all measures to ensure that trade unions can be formed and function without hindrance, including through the de facto recognition of the union."

That is why a strong message will be sent to the Iranian government two weeks prior to the Iranian New Year and the parliamentary elections. Similar actions will be undertaken in London, Geneva, Oslo, Sydney, Toronto, Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta, New Delhi, Istanbul, Basra, Amman, the West Bank, Tunis, Casablanca, and Wellington.

The Brussels delegation will be composed of representatives from EI, Amnesty International, the European Transport Workers' Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents 168 million unionised workers. The ITUC reps will be acting on behalf of their affiliated organisations in Belgium, ACV-CSC, FGTB-ABVV and CGSLB-ACLVB.