TEHRAN In protest to unpaid wages and the unemployment threatening 1700 laborers of the just-privatized Chintz-weaving factory based in Shar-e Rey, southern Tehran, hundreds of the factory workers staged a symbolic sit-in in front of the prosperous Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation early yesterday.

The factory was sold by the MJF last November on the Tehran stock exchange. The new owners are Salar Najafi, Tahmasb Mirza, Hassan Hosseipour, with 38, 26 and 26 percent of the total shares of the factory respectively. The rest of the shares belong to the retired workers.

The owners purchased the bankrupt factory on the condition that they retain all the employees and maintain productivity. But soon they decided to sell the factory and all its assets. This will cause major economic problems for 1700 low-income families.

The protesters, most of whom have worked at the factory for 13-27 years, have asked the MJF officials to give them their benefits and their back pay before the factory is handed over to the private sector. They also want the MJF to pay for their retirement pensions.

The director of the MJF Public Relations Office, Seyed Mahmoud Sajjadi, said that the foundation is not legally permitted to give any help to the workers.

The laborers, who have not been paid since March 21, 2001, have referred to some other concerned centers but have received no convincing response yet.

If such opaque privatizations take place at the cost of massive unemployment, then what could possibly justify such dealings, especially at this critical juncture. The MJF, allocating huge budgets annually, was founded in 1979 with the purpose of supporting low-income people. But, in effect, it seems to have drifted from this valuable objective. If such a foundation cannot give the laborers their rights, then what should we expect from other organizations.

The sit-in ended yesterday evening. None of the demands of the protestors were met.