Georgia: Support the miners' protest - free the jailed activists
| In partnership with LABOR, the Independent Trade Union of Agriculture, Trade, and Industry of Georgia, which unites up to 4,000 members from various sectors and defends their rights. The union advocates for decent work, fair wages, and safe working conditions. |
For more than four months, the ongoing protest in Chiatura, Georgia has highlighted not only labour exploitation but a deep systemic ethical crisis. For more than two weeks, several hunger strikers have taken drastic measures including a hunger strike and even sewing their mouths shut. Tariel Mikatsadze and Mirza Loladze are currently on hunger strike. Emergency services have been called multiple times, but the hunger strikers refuse treatment, not out of stubbornness, but as a desperate plea.
Here is why they are protesting: They are challenging the reckless behavior of Georgian Manganese and its partner, Chiatura Management. The company initiated a large-scale reorganization that violates labour laws and basic legal standards; lacks transparency, with no public plan and no real dialogue with employees; and is used as a tool of retaliation and discrimination against those who protested.
Since 1 November 2024, the company suspended all production, and workers were legally entitled to 60% of their wages under collective agreements. This this obligation was ignored. On 7 March 2025, the company officially declared permanent closure, thereby abandoning all responsibility.
This entire situation is met with conspicuous silence from state institutions. The Labuor Inspection Office fails to respond to violations; the Ministry of Economy refuses to take a stance; and the judiciary prolongs legal proceedings, further eroding trust. Such silence has now taken on political weight: When the state does nothing, it is not neutral — it sides with the oppressor.
