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The perceived antagonists were foreign managers and technicians, most of whom have departed. Says one Iranian oil worker: "The foreigners who were here earned enormous salaries for jobs that any one of us could have done. The Shah thought we were too stupid." In the foreign-dominated management compound at Ahwaz, for example, employees enjoyed air conditioning, swimming pools and modern bathrooms. Their kitchens were modern, right down to the inclusion of garbage-disposal units in the sinks. The housing units were tree-shaded, and protected by high fences topped with concertinas of barbed wire.
Housing for other oil workers is a miserable patchwork, almost as if patterned on the primitive mud huts of the Iranian countryside. Open sewers flank the area, while dogs nose their way through mounds of exposed garbage. The smell of filth permeates the air. The only sign of 20th century amenities is a spate of television aerials atop most of the homes. "They tried to buy us with television," says one of the local strike leaders, who would identify himself only with the nom de guerre Hossein. "My father used to tell us about this land with tears in his eyes. When I first heard about Khomeini a year and a half ago, I knew that he spoke to my generation. Khomeini is the only guarantor of the Iranian people, their interests and their land. Now we have power, and we are going to use it.
One way in which the Khomeini loyalists are using that power is to hike their wages. According to a strike leader, the average salary in the oilfields in prestrike days was $71 a month. Now the workers have demanded, and received, across-the-board raises of 22½%. They have also ordered the Iranian army out of the fields. Says NIOC District Manager Amraie: "The workers are calling the shots. It's now what they wanted it to be—a strictly Iranian operation." The beleaguered executive admits that there have been some ominous telephone threats, but unlike his boss, Hushang Ansary, who left Iran for "medical reasons" after a trip to the turbulent oilfields, Amraie has stuck to his post. Says he: "The Khomeini oil workers are true and good men, and they have more than a sackful of grievances. It's clear that what they want is not unreasonable."
Amraie's laudable dedication to his job is matched by that of many of the workers, but for different reasons. The day after the NIOC manager delivered his tribute to his revolution-minded employees, an oil truck burrowed through a fierce blizzard on the Zagros mountain road from Khuzestan to Tehran. At the mountain hamlet of Zalian, the driver came to a stop. Inside a shelter, he performed the ritual Muslim ablutions. Then, barefoot, the worshiper stepped onto a spotless linoleum platform and began his prayers. Afterward, he explained that he was willing to brave the storm to get badly needed heating oil to Tehran—but not out of any love for the new civilian government. Said the trucker: "It's for Khomeini. He says our people need help, so we're willing to provide it." It was clear that one man's word is law in the rugged wastes of southern Iran, and that man is not the Shah.