Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Workers on Strike Returned to Their Work under Threat of Police

June 10, 2010
Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

Humanrights.ge published an article about the strike of the workers at the GeoSteel Ltd in Rustavi two weeks ago. The workers claimed they would not stop strike until the factory administration satisfies their requirements. A worker of the GeoSteel told us: “Our main problem is low salaries, and lack of toilets and drinking water in the factory. We work two days and nights per week and our salary is 300 GEL. It is slavery. They know that our country is poor, people have hard lives and they take advantage of our situation.”

Other strikers also complained about the factory administration and claimed they would not stop the strike without concrete results. Despite that, at the end of the second day there was not a single striker in front of the GeoSteel. Everybody returned to their works though the factory administration did not satisfy their requirements.

On the strike day, May 17, the Human Rights Center saw several patrol police cars in the territory of the GeoSteel. The head of the Rustavi police department and other law enforcement officials were at the place. We publish the photos taken on May 17 where the law enforcement officers watch the strikers.

Human resource manager of the factory Shalva Bezhiashvili agreed to give an interview to us on the strike day; he requested the strikers to give him one week time to study their requests. “Unless the strike stops and the enterprise continues working, nobody will ever receive anything. I cannot agree with their claiming that there are low salaries at our factory.”

Finally, everything finished peacefully. The strikers preferred to continue working. One of the strikers explained their decision by the “active involvement” of the policeman. We do not publish the name of the respondent according to his request.

“On the second evening, when 30 workers left the enterprise and we were on our way home, about 12 police cars with the inscription “criminal police” stopped us. We all were asked to sit in the cars and they took us to the Rustavi police station # 2 in Rustaveli Street. Then they took us to the building of the regional police department.

“Those who talked with us seemed to be high-ranking officers. They told other detainees they were head of the criminal police and deputy minister of internal affairs. They told our colleagues they had to obey their demands as they were not simple people.”

“They told me we were breaching the law because we had signed an agreement. They said the GeoSteel could sue us. We were told similar demonstrations are not acceptable because the GeoSteel is the only enterprise in Rustavi which has been opened during the last ten years. If GeoSteel stops working, we will turn up in worse situation. They said they would have to stop illegality if we do not stop strike the next day,” said our respondent who insisted that their protest stopped without any results because of the detention of the strikers.

“Next day the people went to work and continued their works. Although 400 workers having worked at night stood on the strike without hesitation, on the next day we all entered the enterprise like children and started working,” said the worker.

We got in touch with the spokesperson of the Kvemo Kartli Regional Police Department Tamar Dodashvili and she asked us to call in half an hour to comment on the situation. However, later Dodashvili did not answer our phone-calls. We also got in touch with the human resource manager of the GeoSteel Shalva Bezhiashvili who did not deny the fact of calling police by the factory administration.

“Nobody could forgive the workers the damage of the factory property. Thus, we called the police to eradicate the problem. I do not have information about details. I will find out everything and you can call me later. I am not surprised that the workers try to justify themselves and blame others,” said Bezhiashvili.

Next day, we called Bezhashvili as we had agreed but he did not answer our calls like the spokesperson of the police department.

Our respondent, who spoke about the detention of the strikers, asked us to pay attention to the security measures taken in the enterprise of the GeoSteel. “There is an oxygen workshop in the GeoSteel where security norms are not properly preserved. A minor mistake and carelessness might result into a serious problem not only for the factory but for the entire city. As for us - the strikers, the factory administration does not say anything. There is suspicious silence in the factory. I think they will replace us with new workers gradually and we all will be fired.”

News