Art Director of Poti Theatre Is Going on a Hunger Strike

Art Director of Poti Theatre on Hunger Strike

Poti. 31.08.04. Media News. The management and actors of the Poti Valerian Gunia State Drama Theatre addressed the members of the local Council for support in which they demanded payment of their salaries, which they have not received for the last six months, and also legal actions against the police officers who used force in making them leave the room of the Mayor of Poti, Mr Vakhtang Alania.
The employees of the theatre call absurd the explanation provided by the Mayor’s Office saying that the salaries cannot be paid due to the fact that the Theatre fails to have a legal status.
“There is absolutely no connection between the status of the theatre and the non-payment of the salaries. The status of the theatre is the business of the local government and not the actors. Consequently, the Mayor’s Office is trying to remove all status from the 70-year old theatre, abolishing it and depriving it of its premises” stated Aleksandre Nijaradze, the Art Director of the Theatre, in an interview with Media News. Nijaradze advised the local government to pay the salaries till the end of August otherwise he intends to go on a hunger strike and launch a criminal case against Mr Alania.
The debt of the government to the theatre comprises GEL70 thousand and the salary of the highest paid actor does not exceed GEL100. Currently there are 83 employees in the Theatre.
It was on 30 August 2004 that more than 80 representatives of the Theatre rushed into the room of the Mayor and demanded the immediate payment of the salaries.  Police were called in and at 02h00 the actors were forcibly removed from the premises.