More than 3,000 miners who have been on strike in the western Georgian city of Chiatura for 14 days on Monday pledged they would continue protests in capital Tbilisi, following an offer by their employer to raise their pay by five percent, which the workers have called “insulting”.
The striking miners have announced their intention to launch a hunger strike outside the Parliament building in the capital, and said their average monthly salaries stood at $400, making them “unable to feed families and meet [loan] obligations”, while also highlighting safety conditions they have called inadequate, and polluted environment in the city.
The miners had demanded a 40 percent wage increase from Georgian Manganese, the company operating their mines in Chiatura, and said about 50 of them would go on hunger strike starting on Monday to exert pressure on the employer to increase salaries and meet other demands.
Their other requests include improvements in safety conditions, better insurance and nutrition, 12-hour shifts, vacations, technology upgrades and curbing of pollution caused by the extraction.
Georgian Manganese – a major producer and exporter of high-quality ferroalloys and manganese ore – on Monday said it would increase salaries by five percent “in the initial stage”, accept 12-hour shifts instead of eight-hour, and allow an audit of the working conditions. The comment came after its engagement with the Health and Labour Ministry, which has mediated in the dispute since last Monday.
In individual efforts, at least 10 miners went on hunger strike, with two of them sewing their mouths and eyes shut in protests, over the past several days, following unsuccessful negotiations with the company.
Georgian Manganese has had a licence for mining in Chiatura and the Sachkhere region on a plot of 16,430 hectares since 2007, with the deal set for a period of 40 years.
Along with the ore mines, Georgian Manganese also operates the Zestaponi Ferroalloys Plant, Vartsikhe 2005 Hydro Power Plant, and Feromedi Clinic, all in the country’s west.
Source: Agenda