One of the cores of Iran’s Green movement is in its key demands. Iran’s social groups and classes, most of which comprise working and professional people as opposed to real classes, have legitimate demands which if addressed can translate into the provision of human and civil rights for Iranians. These rights cannot be ignored. Iran’s Green Movement does not advocate grandiose schemes but looks at principles and specifics. This means that it pays attention to social movements and specific social issues. Its focus on specific issues does not however mean that it pays no attention to other problems, but it is a way of respecting the rights and ideals of people. When we say that human beings have rights, we must define who these humans are and what is their status. Everybody of course these days talks of humans but the battle is over the details and the ideals, dreams, etc of people. For example; do women have rights? do religious and non-religious individuals both have rights? Problems begin when all of a sudden a group, class, ethnic group etc is portrayed as being superior to others. We believe that all humans are equal in rights. The Green Movement was born from the urban middle classes. But it has to spread beyond that. One must note the difference between the urban middle class and the middle class in general. In Iran, there is no classic class solidarity or behavior, or no group falls into that category or behaves on that basis. The groups in our society behave on trade lines, social groups, working groups etc. This is also true regarding our labor force. For example, the relationship among industrial and construction workers in Iran is not based on their production or social status but on human and emotional criteria. So when we say urban middle class, this is not the same as the middle class in general. Middle class groups in Iran are present in the Green Movement as a trade or simply as a group. Workers, teachers, engineers, doctors etc comprise the urban middle class. Some of these groups have not been attended to by the Green Movement, even though their participation and presence in the movement is clear. Industrial workers are among this group.

Iran’s ninth administration (2005 to 2009) provided various monetary subsidies to workers. But it did not provide them with their reasonable and modest demands, including secure jobs. Because Khatami’s 2 reformist administrations (1997 to 2005) did not meet the reasonable demands of workers and teachers, they decided to vote for a different group in 2005. This was really choosing between bad and the worst, and they chose the bad. This was because neither the reformist administration of Khatami nor the Principalist (ideologue) ninth administration of Ahmadinejad provided job security, harmony between inflation and income, the right to peaceful assembly, or, the right to strike and protest.

But the ninth administration of Ahmadinejad (2001 to 2005) did increase the wages of workers, teachers, retirees and farmers, even though this increase was effective only for a short time. The Green Movement must establish an advocacy relationship with industrial workers and teacher, which belong to the urban middle class so that more from these groups join the movement. Key demands are a feature of the Green Movement and form its fundamental beliefs which are manifested in its attention to specific and small movements. A key feature of the movement is its departure from making generalizations.

Therefore, recognizing these movements and stressing the reasonable and rational demands of workers, teachers, women and ethnic groups can turn the Green Movement into a national movement, like a national team.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi’s messages on the occasion of international labor and teacher day on May 1 were commendable and Green Movement activists must pay more attention to the rights of workers. These rights include 1-job security and stability for workers; 2-a rational relationship and link between inflation and income; 3-the right to have a trade union; 4-the right to protest and hold meetings for worker’s demands. These are certainly specific demands in a democracy. When macro-level demands are made, differences among groups are not recognized. It is in the details that such differences are clarified, and must be addressed and focused on.