This publication presents the findings of Volunteer Activists’ (VA) systematic review of labor conditions and worker-led collective actions in Iran between July and December 2025. It forms part of VA’s ongoing biannual reporting on labor developments in the country.

The purpose of this report is to deepen international understanding of contemporary labor challenges in Iran and to assess the extent and nature of worker mobilization. International visibility is a critical source of support for Iran’s labor movement, as recognition beyond national borders strengthens workers’ confidence that their struggles are not isolated or ignored. Moreover, a detailed appraisal of workers’ demands, together with the organizational strengths and limitations of trade unions representing them, can enable international donors to design targeted initiatives that respond more effectively to these realities and generate stronger outcomes. Drawing on its established networks inside Iran, VA is well placed to contribute such analysis. In light of the widespread street demonstrations that erupted in late December 2025 - driven largely by economic hardship and demands for greater political freedoms - this report also contextualizes the broader protest environment in Iran, to which labor activism both contributed and within which it unfolded.

Iran’s labor sector is highly heterogeneous, and capturing the breadth of labor-related grievances and actions required extensive and methodical research. The analysis presented here relies on a combination of primary and secondary data. VA gathered firsthand information through interviews, including online conversations, with labor activists operating within Iran. These accounts were complemented by corroborated media coverage, existing academic and policy research, and systematic monitoring of social media activity. From this body of evidence, several central findings emerge regarding labor conditions and worker protests in the second half of 2025:

• The latter half of 2025 was marked by sustained and elevated levels of worker unrest, largely driven by wages that failed to keep pace with rapidly rising living costs as well by growing anger over a lack of government protection.
• State authorities employed multiple strategies to suppress labor activism, relying not only on legal and judicial mechanisms but also on sectoral and professional bodies that imposed disciplinary sanctions on workers.
• Government announcements to end preferential, subsidized foreign-currency rates for importers deepened workers’ despair, by accelerating the rial’s decline and triggering a surge in (food) prices.