An Iranian bakery worker and co-founder of the Bakery Workers Trade Union, Mahmoud Salehi, was released from prison in early April after a year of incarceration. Imprisoned for breaches of “national security,” he had organized a rally on International Workers’ Day (May 1) in 2004.

During his prison stay, protesters rallied outside the high-security facility in the Kurdish capital of Sanandaj. Their voices were soon joined by activists with LabourStart [1], the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Transport Federation, and Amnesty International, which all launched solidarity campaigns in the last year. Salehi was released to crowds celebrating his freedom, and promised to continue his decades-long struggle for labor rights in Iran.

But the Iranian workers’ movement faces continued state persecution. Despite his release, Salehi now has to fight new charges. The government claims he was unlawfully communicating with outsiders when he tried to smuggle dispatches on prison conditions and the hunger strike of a fellow inmate.

While Salehi rebuffs new accusations and is free on bail, the battle for Mansour Osanloo’s release continues. Osanloo is a leader in the Iranian bus drivers’ Vahed Syndicate, and has been imprisoned since last July on a five-year sentence for labor organizing activities. Like Salehi, Osanloo’s health has deteriorated without proper medical care in prison. Iranian workers and international human rights groups are building on Salehi’s release to push intensified efforts to free Osanloo.

Meanwhile, repression of freedom of speech and labor organizing persists in Iran. Two members of the Vahed Syndicate were arrested while passing out copies of their union publication in mid-April.

The International Labor Organization is considering a review of complaints from Iranian workers about their rights to unionize. Send messages of solidarity and other inquiries to the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran at: alliance at workers-iran.org.