Hundreds of Georgian Railway workers plan to go on strike, demand pay raise

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. 

Georgian Railway has responded to the demands, calling them “unrealistic, a populist issue.”  

The Georgian Railway announces that it will increase the salaries of workers whose monthly salary does not exceed over 1,500 GEL on March 1, 2020 by 10 per cent. 

The Georgian Railway also states that it is not true that some 4,800 employees are preparing to go on strike as the railway union includes only 400 members “and it does not have the legitimacy to speak on behalf of the full staff and, moreover, to announce going on strike due to unfulfilled demands”.

Also, the Georgian Railway promised all employees of the company to receive a fixed amount of money as a gift twice per year.

Ilia Lezhava, the deputy chairman of the railway union, said that the main problem is that since 2012, employees whose wages are under 1,000 GEL have not received a pay raise. 

He said that some people get only 200-300 GEL while performing “quite difficult jobs”.

Lezhava said if the administration of the railway does not agree to hold negotiations with the employees, they will go on strike.