Miners cease strike

Miners in Tkibuli stopped striking late on Monday after a business ombudsman arrived in the western town and became actively involved in negotiations with the workers, the head of the processional union and the employer company, Saknakhshiri GIG.

Through the agreement, the total salary of the miners will increase by 5% and for those whose activities are connected with certain risks will see more than 5% growth.

As the workers were on strike about two weeks with the demand to obtain at least 40% increase in their salaries, they will not face any administrative sanctions.

The company will provide half of their salaries for the period in which the miners were on strike, and the rest half will be compensated at the expense of vacations.

The company also took responsibility to gradually upgrade the current poor working conditions.

Based on the deal, the miners will resume working immediately.

It should be stated that the current average salary of miners ranges between 400-500 GEL and a 5%increase will not solve any of their everyday problems.

It should also be stressed that when a deal is reached after a strike in Georgia and when an employer voices certain promises, it very rarely meets them.

In fact, due to the lack of safety measures and poor infrastructure, the workers daily risk their lives for just 400-500 GEL.

If the dramatic downfall of the GEL-to-dollar rate is taken into account, the salary is not even enough to support monthly grocery bills.

There must be a certain, powerful structure that will control how employed people’s rights and necessary conditions are protected; workers cannot depend on the promises of the employer.

Unfortunately, many employers in Georgia still ignore the labor code and commit a range of violations.

As there is a lack of jobs in Georgia, employed people feel the need to keep silence over any violations.

As an anonymous source told The Messenger, different employers - especially in the business and aviation fields - force their employees to ask for one and sometimes several months of unpaid leave, as based on the labour code, the employer is prohibited from granting unpaid vacation time.