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Georgia: Stop union busting at Rustavi Avot
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| In partnership with the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia and IndustriALL which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors and is a force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world. |
Georgian chemical workers face oppression. Once a model of the socially oriented enterprise, the Georgian fertilizer producer "Rustavi Azot", after arrival of a new owner at the beginning of 2017 turned against the local union, the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union. The company’s employees are persecuted and repressed because of their union affiliation. Under pressure of the company's senior management, workshop supervisors force workers to leave their union. With the view to undermine the local union in January-February 2017 management illegally dismissed 350 people.
Since March 2017 TUMMCIWG has been trying to restart negotiations with the management, all to no avail. The union has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia for help. However, the Ministry did not manage to bring the parties to the negotiating table. On the contrary, the weak position of the Ministry in fact facilitated and encouraged the criminal and discriminatory actions of Rustavi Azot management. In violation of national legislation and ILO conventions Nos. 87 and 98 every day dozens of workers are forced to withdraw from TUMMCIWG against their will.
