The safety of Georgian Workers under serious risk – HRW reports

Human Rights Watch published a 60-page report, called “No Year Without Deaths” covers a decade of deregulations that have put Georgian miners at risk. The report studies conditions of mineworkers and highlights multiple alarming practices and daily challenges of people working in mines. HRW representatives interview about 80 miners and gathered information about their experiences.

The report documents just how weak labor protections and limited oversight has allowed mining practices that undermine safety. “In 2006, shortly after the Rose Revolution brought a pro-western president to power, Georgia abolished its Labor Inspectorate as part of sweeping economic reforms aimed at attracting investment to the country. Since then, according to one study, deaths at work have soared by 74 percent, mostly in mining and construction. “- stated the report.

Corine Ajder, Feinberg fellow at Human Rights Watch thinks that thousands of workers will continue to be at heightened risk until Georgia regulates working hours and creates a system to inspect the broad impact of working conditions. “Georgia’s gradual approach to re-regulation ignores the everyday risks miners are taking without adequate protection for their rights,” Ajder said. “The government should move quickly to correct the errors of the past.”

Miners told the HRW that in a rush to meet quotas established by the Georgian Manganese (GM), or without sufficient rest, they have suffered deep cuts, were buried under rocks as roofs collapsed, have lost limbs, suffered concussions or narrowly avoided serious accidents.

Miners also lice in a dormitory, in part to maximize production. Gm states that they ensure that miners get enough rest, but the report argues that this requirement unfairly interferes with miners’ freedom of movement and their family and home lives.

Accidents due to exhausted are also frequent. As one of the manganese workers, Merab said On the 9th or 10th night of work, everyone is exhausted, and a lot of workers fall asleep. He was injured on his 14th consecutive night underground. “Someone was sitting next to me and fell asleep and accidentally turned on a piece of equipment. I was cut, and my ribs were showing,” said Merab.

Coal miners for Saknakhshiri LLC also cited similar working conditions Miners said that a compensation system based on performance, or quantity of coal extracted, imposed production targets that could not be reached safely, encouraging workers to omit time-consuming safety measures.

The report lists following practices that violate workers’ rights: long hours and no weekly rest, nonpayment of overtime hours, failure to provide copies of written contracts, and management’s deduction from wages.

HRW key recommendations are for the Georgian government to undertake comprehensive labor policy reform and make sure it is in line with international labor standards. Georgian government should also establish a Labor Inspectorate with a broad mandate to inspect all safety issues and working conditions. The third recommendation calls for mining companies to respect workers’ rights and their safety. The companies should make sure that production quotas can be met safely.

HRW also encourages continued encouragement from the EU towards Georgia to put in place a full labor inspectorate and align its labor laws with international labor standards as a priority.

Since 2013, the Georgian government has taken important positive steps to correct course on protection of labor rights, including strengthening the Labor Code and establishing a Labor Conditions Inspection Department in 2015. In February 2019, reforms expanded the powers of the Labor Inspectorate significantly. However, there’s a gap between the laws and their fulfillment which leads to little progress when it comes to protecting workers.

In early April 2018, Mikheil, a 54-year-old coal miner in Georgia, heard sirens just as he was about to start his morning shift[1] He would soon learn that an explosion in the mine had killed six of his co-workers, including Pavle, his 25-year-old nephew. The mine soon reopened, however, and he was called back to work.

In early April 2018, 6 miners died in the mine explosion. However, the mine was reopened soon. In July of the same year, 4 other miners died as well. This caused public outrage, even protests in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The Non-Governmental organization was demanding the immediate improvement of the safety issues as well as of the working environment. The amendments made in February of this year were supposed to fix this issue but sadly we have yet to see some tangible results, as indicated by the HRW report as well.

Georgia’s international partners, including the EU, and the US State Department have criticized Georgia’s labor inspectorate system. In April, the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights said, after a visit to Georgia, that it was concerned that the regulatory framework remains inadequate since it “will not cover the whole spectrum of labor rights.”

The incidents brought into focus Georgia’s much-needed labor reform, after a decade of deregulation, had dramatically reduced labor rights’ protection and government oversight. Even as the country took steps toward increased regulation after 2013, the accidents showed that the long-term impacts of deregulation, which legitimized poor business practices on safety and labor rights, needed further efforts to reverse.