Fifteen thousand workers went on strike at a major gas field in Iran last week, demanding improved wages and working conditions at the economically critical South Pars field. Earlier this month, the Association of Gas Industry Workers’ Unions of Bushehr Province—the largest labor organization representing the workers of Iran’s gas refineries at South Pars—announced a weekly work stoppage over longstanding grievances at the site.

A letter announcing the strike, authored by union head Alireza Mirghaffari, laid out several key demands that the workers had put to Iranian authorities related to inequitable pay, difficult working conditions, and inadequate leave time for workers at the site. Many of the demands also point to widespread unhappiness over wage suppression and violation of labor laws. The conditions, the letter said, “long burdened those who sustain this key industry and source of Iran’s national wealth.”

A large portion of Iran’s oil and gas workforce is employed through temporary contracts or as private contractors rather than as permanent employees, leaving them without stable wages, benefits, or job security, and vulnerable to dismissal if they speak out. Inflationary pressures triggered by U.S. sanctions and corruption by Iranian officials have also drastically reduced the purchasing power of ordinary Iranians, including those who work in this sector. Iranian oil and gas exports are the country’s most critical economic lifeline, but working in the field has been notoriously grueling for decades—especially in remote areas like Khuzestan and Bushehr where workers face extreme heat and substandard housing conditions.