Chiatura end strike as deal reached with employer
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Miners in Georgia’s western town of Chiatura have ended a strike launched on May 16 after demanding better salaries and working conditions, as a deal reached with the Georgian Manganese company late yesterday.
The company promised a 25 per cent rise in salaries starting from June 1, 2019, while an additional 10 percent rise will take place starting next year.
Initially the miners demanded a 50 per cent salary increase, while the company was offering only a 25 per cent rise.
Initially the company stated that only a 25 per cent increase was possible. Photo: EMC.
The final deal stood at a 35 per cent rise.
The company will also improve nutrition for its employees and will not allow its heavy vehicles to move in the town and pollute the environment.
Before the agreement, Director of Chiatura Mining Plant Akaki Gurjidze quit the post.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated last week that the miners’ protest was fair and urged for a fast solution of the problem.
Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze stated earlier today that “the miners’ fair demands were met, which is very good.”
The Georgian Manganese said that due to the protest it suffered one million GEL loss daily and the state lost half a million USD in exports on a daily basis.
3,200 employees of the Georgian Manganese company, who said that their salary was between 500-600 GEL, have been on strike for 11 days. Several of then sewed their mouths in protest.
- Read more about the protest and the company here.
Six activists who were detained yesterday at a rally demanding the protection of workers’ rights following the death of two workers on Sunday have been released.The incident took place late yesterday when the protestors blocked the street and police were trying to push them to the sidewalks.
Several of fifteen miners of the Georgian Manganese in Georgia's western town of Chiatura have sewn their mouths in protest as the company refuses to fulfil their demands regarding increased salaries.
The Georgian Trade Unions Confederation held a demonstration today for employee rights on International Workers’ Day (May 1) in front of the building of Administration of the Government of Georgia in Tbilisi.
The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has offered his deep condolences to President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the Georgian population over the tragic accident at the Mindeli coal mine in western Georgia that has claimed the lives of six and injured three.
A total of 4,800 employees of the Georgian Railway are preparing to go on strike on August 10 if their salaries are not be increased by 50 per cent, the railway union reports.
Miners in the western Georgian mining town of Tkibuli have stopped their protest today as they have been promised to be paid their salaries on Monday, Georgian Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said yesterday after meeting with Saknakhshiri, a daughter company of Georgian Industrial Group (GIG) and miners.
More than 3,000 miners who have been on strike in the western Georgian city of Chiatura for 14 days on Monday pledged they would continue protests in capital Tbilisi, following an offer by their employer to raise their pay by five percent, which the workers have called “insulting”.
Georgian Manganese, a major producer and exporter of ferroalloys and manganese ore in the country, on Thursday said it was “ready” to hand over the management of mines to miners who have been on strike for more than two weeks, following unsuccessful negotiations on pay rise.