Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/58772 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation Author: Jefroudi, M. Title: “If I deserve it, it should be paid to me”: a social history of labour in the Iranian oil industry 1951-1973 Issue Date: 2017-10-11 “If I deserve it, it should be paid to me”: A Social History of Labour in the Iranian Oil Industry (1951-1973) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 11 oktober 2017 klokke 13:45 uur door Maral Jefroudi Geboren te Tehran 1982 Promotor: Prof. dr. T. Atabaki (Universiteit Leiden) Copromotor: Prof. dr. M.M. van der Linden (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. K. Hofmeester (Universiteit Antwerpen) Prof. dr. L.A.C.I. Lucassen (Universitiet Leiden) Prof. dr. M. Vahabi (University Paris 8) Maral Jefroudi Leiden 2017 To oil workers, who make their own history Table of Contents List of Tables 10 Note on Transliteration 11 Aknowledgements 12 Introduction: A Social history of labour in the oil industry 15 The actors, objects and location of this history 22 Sources 27 Historiographical concerns: Periodisation, Embeddedness, Social and Global History 33 The Political and the Economic: State, Company, Workers 43 Chapter One Nationalisation: The Legal, the Tallied, and the Imagined 49 The D’Arcy Regime: The Beginning of British Control over Iranian Oil 54 Centralisation and Changing Terms 59 The Years of War and Occupation 66 Global Connections of Nationalisation 73 The Making of the National Regime of Oil 80 Iranianisation: Quantifying the Power? 85 From Blockade to the Coup: Years of Actually Existing Nationalisation 92 The Coup and the Start of “De-nationalisation” of Management 97 Who is the Iranian of Iranianisation? 103 Concluding Remarks 112 Chapter Two The staff, the Worker, and the “Non-company Workmen”: Locations in Relations of Production 115 Conceptualizing Class and Its Locations in the Iranian Oil Industry 118 Job Classification 125 Linking Pay to the Needs: Workers’ Minimum Wage Basket 147 “The Right to Hire and Fire”: Who is the surplus worker? 170 Concluding Remarks 184 Chapter Three Non-Basic Operations, Where Production Meets Reproduction 187 Reza 193 Maryam 195 Kazem 197 Housing 199 To house or not to house: the quest 211 Bringing in the Bank: the invention of “freedom” of accommodation 220 Education 224 The Take-Off Period 225 General Education 225 Trade-oriented Education 236 Medical and Sanitary Amenities 251 The transfer of non-basic operations to NIOC 265 The State’s White Revolution 267 Concluding Remarks 270 Chapter Four Two Faces of Labour Activism: Mediation and Militancy in the Oil Industry 273 Early Years of Trade Unionism in Iran and the Particularity of the Oil Industry 274 The 1929 Oil Strike 277 Labour Activism During the Interwar Years 280 Labour Activism under Occupation 283 The 1946 Oil Workers’ Strike 287 Post-1946 Dispute Solving Mechanisms 289 Amir Quli Mohammadi of the Central Union of Oil Workers of Khuzestan 297 Years of “Real” Nationalisation (1951-1954) 302 Spring 1951 Strikes of Nationalisation 303 After Nationalisation 309 Consortium Years (1954-1973) 314 1955 Work-Stoppages 317 1957 Strikes 320 The 1958 Kharg Strike of Transferred Workers 326 The 1959 New Year Strikes 328 Labour Activism in the “long sixties” 330 Labour activism at away-games: Relations with the ILO, ICFTU and WFTU 341 Conceptualizing Labour Activism: Dualistic or Inclusive? 349 Concluding Remarks 353 Conclusion: Not by bread alone 355 Appendix I 367 Appendix II 371 Appendix III 385 Appendix IV 387 Appendix V 388 Bibliography 391 Primary Sources 391 Secondary Sources 392 Curriculum Vitae 403 Samenvatting 404 List of Tables Table 1- Composition of Iranian and foreign employees before and after nationalisation 88 Table 2- Composition of Iranian and foreign workers in various grades before nationalisation 91 Table 3- Employment in the Iranian Consortium in selected years 128 Table 4- The changes in the employment figures in the Fields and Abadan in selected years 129 Table 5- Minimum wage basket for Abadan and the Fields (1946) 148 Table 6- Minimum wage rates in the oil industry 1946-1973 for unskilled workers 170 Table 7- Total Iranian and Overseas staff by grades (1966) 174 Table 8- House maintenance charge (1957) 219 Table 9- Post-1946 Industrial Dispute Solving Mechanism 294 Table 10- Number of unions organized per year in Iran (1964-1972) 335 10 Note on Transliteration For place names in Iran, I have used a simplified version of the Persian transliteration system of Iranian Studies, the Journal of the Association for Iranian Studies. I have not used anglicised forms (such as Khuzistan, Isfahan, and Majlis) and have spelled the place names as they would sound phonetically in Persian (such as Khuzestan, Esfahan, and Majles). Alternative spellings within quotations and documents are kept as they are. All the translations from Persian are my own. 11 Acknowledgements Finally a long journey is about to end and fitting all the lovely people who have helped me in this process in a concise acknowledgement has proven to be one of the most challenging tasks. I need to thank my supervisors Prof. Touraj Atabaki and Prof. Marcel van der Linden. From the very first contact, Touraj warm-heartedly welcomed me to our project. He has been a supportive and critical supervisor, an attentive friend and at times a caring family member. Marcel was always there when I needed him. His forthright comments helped me sharpen my arguments and his encouragement pushed me to be more assertive. I am thankful to my “oily colleagues” Peyman Jafari and Kaveh Ehsani for our valuable exchanges. Peyman’s support went beyond working hours since my early days in Amsterdam. I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Karin Hofmeester, Prof. Leo Lucassen, and Prof. Mehrdad Vahabi, who kindly accepted to be in my dissertation committee. Most of my theoretical basis was formed in Boğaziçi University. Despite the many years since I left the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, I still feel indebted and appreciate the discussions and supervision I benefited from there. The foundational years of this study were spent at the International Institute of Social History, IISH with the funding of The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, NWO. I am grateful to my colleagues at the research and collection departments, and to the administrative staff. Jacqueline Rutte, Angèle Janse, Jacques van Gerwen, Marina de Regt, Rossana Barragán, Astrid Werburg, Maria Ullivarri, Gabriela Scodeller, and Suzanne Ossewaarde were particularly thoughtful and caring. I feel very fortunate to have met them. The bibliography lists the archives and libraries I consulted. This study would not be possible without their helpful staff. Robabeh Motaghedi, Paul Schroeder, Nasser Khaksar, the Dashtegoli and the Rasooli family not only shared their memories and private archives, they also opened their networks and houses to me. I am thankful to the Fox International Scholarship, which provided me with the opportunity to study at Yale University, MacMillan Center in 2010. I would like to thank Joe and Alison Fox as well as the coordinator of the programme, Julia Muravnik for this unique experience. I was granted 12 The Weatherhead Initiative on Global History Fellowship at Harvard University in 2013. I am particularly thankful to the coordinators of the programme, Sven Beckert and Charles Maier, and program administrator Jessica Barnard. Life in Cambridge would not have been as enriching as it was were it not for my office mates Norberto Ferreras and Julia McClure. My path crossed with many precious people from all around the world during my PhD years. I am grateful to these many lovely coincidences that cherished my life. In no particular order, I would like to thank friends from the Gezi Solidarity movement in the Netherlands who have become parts of my chosen family since 2013; fellow radical historians Pepijn Brandon, Klaas Stuutje, and Rosa Deen; Rudi Batzell, Joane Chaker, and Liat Spiro of the Study of Capitalism group in Harvard; Joao Romao, Bahar Sakızlıoğlu, Mark A. Dixon, Merijn Oudenampsen, Michael Marchman, Yannis Tzaninis, Alex Merlo, Nina Brenjo, Christian De Vito, Johanna Wolf, Elif Keskiner, Aşiyan Aydın, Ard Dermout Cramer, Jack Ferguson, Federico Lafaire, and Seçkin İltan. I am thankful to have Alex de Jong in my life. I would not have been able to finish this dissertation had he not tolerated my absences at the office and been a great companion whenever I needed. I am grateful to him. IIRE gave me the energy I needed in the last three years. I would like to thank Joost Kircz, Aat van Wijk, Arend van de Poel, Bertil Videt, and Branislav Gajanovic for their friendship and support. IIRE would not be IIRE without the activists, who came from all around the world to attend our schools and seminars. I am thankful to all of them for making my life more meaningful and joyful. This was all possible with the comradeship of many other people, in particular Penny Duggan and Marijke Colle. I am thankful to all my family who, from long distance showed their love and support. My mother Afsaneh Djalaei has been particularly helpful whenever I needed assistance while dealing with Iranian archives. I am thankful to her. Despite many heartbreaking news reports we followed everyday, Nathan Legrand and Safiye reminded me that life is a happy experience to share. I am lucky to have them in my life. 13 14 Introduction Introduction: a social history of labour in the oil industry This is a historical study of the people producing oil in the South of Iran in the two decades following the nationalisation of oil in 1951.