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Iranians are continuing their uprising into the New Year with on-going street demonstrations. Last week at least 8 people were killed in clashes with government forces, and over a dozen people arrested. On Sunday, the Shi’ite sacred day of Ashura, thousands of people demonstrated. Among those killed in recent weeks is Seyed Ali, the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussain Mousavi. The Iranian government has labeled dissenters “anti-revolutionary terrorists” and is resorting to severe crackdowns despite international condemnations by human rights groups and other governments. Many are characterizing the actions as a sign of the government’s weakness. One of President Ahmedinejad’s biggest fears is that the broad-based movement against him will use next month’s celebration of the anniversary of the 1979 fall of the Shah as an expression of their dissent. An anonymous member of President Obama’s administration told the New York Times that Iran’s internal turmoil may be an opportune window to slap new sanctions over Iran’s defiance on its nuclear program. But many social and political movements inside Iran, who are intimately involved in the uprising, are also wondering if the regime’s days are numbered. Among them is Iranian labor – a movement of underground labor organizers who have been strategizing underground for years, waiting for the right moment to demand workers rights in public.

GUESTS: Homayoun Poorzad, Iranian labor activist with the Network of Iranian Labor Unions, Andy Griggs, LA public school teacher, activist with UTLA, member of the steering committee of US Labor Against the War (USLAW)

For more information, visit www.uslaboragainstwar.org and www.iranlaborreport.com.