6 May, 2010Workers of a smelting plant and seven mines in Georgia organized a series of industrial actions to protect their rights and improve working conditions. The management initially responded with intimidation and harassment, but has since made some concessions and talks are continuing.
GEORGIA: On March 31 two workers of Zestafoni Ferro Factory in Georgia were dismissed, one being a father of a prominent union leader and the other a union activist himself. This act exhausted the patience of 2,800 workers employed by the plant and Chiatura mines; they decided to take action.
An average monthly wage at the plant and mines is just 400 lari (USD 231), which is slightly above the subsistence level and 100 lari less than the average wage in Georgia. The working conditions at the mine and smelting operations are extremely hazardous, and the health and safety standards are low. Workers, represented by the Metal and Mining Industry Workers Trade Union (MMIWTU) in Imereti Region affiliated to the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), have long demanded a wage increase, however the administration refused to satisfy their demands.
On April 10-11 two meetings of the workers with the union leaders were held in the atmosphere of intimidation and provocations by the management and security service, which tried to intervene.
On April 20 workers at both the smelting plant and the mines held a warning strike. The action took place from 12 AM to 2 PM. The production at the plant completely stopped. While at Zestafoni the strike went through without incidents, at Chiatura the administration tried to intervene. The manager of one of the mines physically attacked the union leader, a 55-year-old man who has worked at the mine for 27 years.
On April 23 workers at Zestafoni and Chiatura began a two-week strike, drawing a list of ten demands:
- Reinstatement of two union activists;
- Wage increase of 50%;
- Setting up a minimum salary for Chiatura workers;
- Paying for overtime work;
- Paying 50% more for the night work;
- An annual leave of 35 days;
- Permanent work contracts;
- Various improvements in health and safety standards and working conditions, such as providing the workers with good tools and safety equipment;
- Recognition of the union and good faith negotiations with workers' representatives;
- Allowing GTUC to participate in negotiations.
On April 26, just three days after the strike began, the management made a series of concessions, and the production resumed. According to the agreement, two union activists will be reinstated and all the workers will be given permanent contracts. Striking workers will be compensated for the three days of industrial action.
The strike committee will be transformed into a bargaining board, which will discuss the implementation of all the other demands with the management, however the union is prepared to launch further and extended strike actions if the workers' demands are not met.
Both IMF and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) lend their full support to the struggle of Georgian metal workers. On April 21 the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) sent a letter to the president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, condemning the violations of workers' rights and discriminatory practices at the smelting plant and mines.
On May 5 and 6, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda visited Georgia on a mission to get first-hand information on the dispute. Working with ICEM, IMF will closely monitor the situation at Zestafoni and Chiatura.