Metro Workers Not to Strike Today

Tbilisi Metro employees will no longer go on strike today, as was announced early this week.

The information was released on Thursday by the trade union of Tbilisi Metro employees, “Unity 2013.”

The members of Unity 2013, which unites more than 250 people, request increased salaries, saying their existing remuneration is inconsistent with environmental conditions, working cycle or the responsibilities they have to face on a daily basis.

The workers say they have given 30 days to the Tbilisi Transport Company to re-consider their demands.

In case they do not get a raise, the metro staff say they will definitely go on strike.

Unity 2013 noted that when they previously announced they would strike on May 3, Tbilisi Transport Company contacted former employees and offered them jobs, a fact they consider “inadmissible.”

The workers believe that if they are substituted by the people who worked in the metro years ago, it will pose a threat to the lives of the passengers, adding that the system has been modernized and the current staff has undergone special trainings.

Earlier this month, metro workers addressed the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, demanding the appointment of a mediator, which resulted in a mediation process.

Last week, they held a meeting at the Mayor’s Office and with their employer company; however, they were refused a raise.

The lawyer of the metro employees says the mediation process has been unsuccessful, adding that no agreement was reached. "As such, the metro drivers and other staff will stop working."

Unity 2013 started a legal dispute at court in March 2016 asking for improved labor and safety conditions and increased salaries but they failed to win the case.

By Thea Morrison

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