As Robin reminded me earlier today by IM (en route from Johannesburg to Rome!) things did not turn decisively against the Shah in 1978/79 until the labor unions went on strike, crippling the economy. Now, via Andrew Sullivan, there this from Al Giordano in The Field:
The workers of the Khodro automobile company in Iran today issued the following declaration (translated for The Field from the original Farsi by Iraj Omidvar):
Strike in Iran Khodro:
We declare our solidarity with the movement of the people of Iran.
Autoworker, Fellow Laborers (Laborer Friends): What we witness today, is an insult to the intelligence of the people, and disregard for their votes, the trampling of the principles of the Constitution by the government. It is our duty to join this people's movement.
We the workers of Iran Khodro, Thursday 28/3/88 in each working shift will stop working for half an hour to protest the suppression of students, workers, women, and the Constitution and declare our solidarity with the movement of the people of Iran. The morning and afternoon shifts from 10 to 10:30. The night shift from 3 to 3:30.
Laborers of IranKhodor
This announcement – to my knowledge this is the first place it appears in English anywhere – obtained by The Field by the auto workers of the largest automobile producer in Iran, is significant on multiple levels.
The obvious one is that once the workers begin to flex their muscles on the means of production, no illegitimate regime can continue standing.
Another is that it reveals the malicious lie spread by some that the Iranian resistance is an upper class phenomenon restricted to one or two regions for what it is: untrue.
More here.