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14 February, 2011
Effective 1 March, some 200 transport workers at the Tkibuli-Mindeli coal mines in Imerti region, Georgia, will receive between 20-40% salary increases, depending on job classification, thanks to a 1-2 February strike by 600 members of the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union.
That strike, on the heels of a methane gas explosion that killed one miner and seriously injuring four others, proved highly successful at 1,050-worker Saknakhshiri, or Geo-Coal, with management immediately agreeing to recognise the ICEM affiliate. Saknakhshiri is owned by Georgian Investment Group (GIG), a diverse conglomerate controlled by Georgian politician Davit Bezhuashvili.
The 20-40% salary hikes for mine transport workers was agreed to in initial bargaining on 7 February. On 20 February, the union and management, together with the President of the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), Irakli Petriasvili, will resume talks on behalf of 650 underground miners over safety, pay, and other work terms.
Left - Irakli Petriashvili, President of GTUC
Following the methane gas explosion on 21 January – the third such deadly blast in less than a year at Tkibuli-Mindeli – workers and their new union demanded modern mine safety equipment to replace Soviet-era equipment in place, and demanded improved work and pay conditions.
The situation was exasperated days after the blast when police arrested two low-level managers as scapegoats for last month’s deadly accident. In support of the two and as protest to the overall work and safety conditions, miners staged a two-hour warning strike on 31 January and then began an open-ended strike on 1 February. The strike ended the very next day when management recognised the union and agreed to begin immediate talks with a series of set deadlines leading to a collective agreement no later than 20 March.
Workers began joining the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union after a 27 August 2010 gas blast that killed four and severely injuring six others. On 3 March 2010, another gas explosion filled four and severely burned one other miner.
The Tkibuli-Mindeli coal deposits are the second major set of Georgian workplaces that the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union has organised using direct action in recent months. Last spring, the union staged strike actions at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys plant and Georgian Manganese mines, winning work rights for 5,800 miners and metalworkers.
Please view an ICEM report from last week on the union’s recent success at the Tkibuli-Mindeli mines.