4,000 Union Members Stand with Pipeline Union in Case against BP

SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, SOCAR Georgia Gas, Batumi Petroleum Terminal and other oil and gas industry members, about 4000 employees in all, have come out in support of the primary trade union ‘Pipeline Union’ and its deputy chairman Vakhtang Pirmisashvili, in the ongoing legal battle with employers BP Georgia and its Human Resources Recruitment Agency (HRRA).

Last week, the 13th Congress of Georgian Oil and Gas industry workers was held, attended by delegates of oil and gas industry workers trade union organizations. Among them were SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, SOCAR Georgia Gas, Batumi Oil Terminal, the employment agency's HR and other primary trade union delegates. At the meeting the Head of the Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union, Gocha Kvitatiani, gave a report, the main focus of which was trade union new member organization affairs.

In particular, the issues between the Pipeline Union, a professional organization of laborers working for recruitment agency HRRA and for all South Caucasus region energy carriers, and their employers were discussed. It was explained that the employer of the Pipeline Union is BP Georgia, which fully determines its contractor recruitment agency’s work policies. The chairman noted that there had been several attempts by BP employees to join the trade union in the past but through the “negative interference” of BP Georgia, the talks were ceased.

The Pipeline Union committee began work on a collective bargaining project immediately following creation of the primary union. In parallel, it is said that BP started to pursue primary trade union members in order to close the Union. At present, the lawsuit of the deputy chairman of the Pipeline Union committee, Pirmisashvili, who allegedly suffered as a victim of persecution, is under review by the Georgian Civil Court with the assistance of Union lawyers. The fate of the Pipeline Union largely depends on the solution of the lawsuit. “We hope that the truth will prevail," said Kvitatiani in his speech.

At the congress meeting, participants expressed their solidarity with the members of the Pipeline Union and its deputy chairman. "There are still cases where leaders [in Georgia] exercise pressure on trade union organizations. Such measures are often covert. It is all the more unfortunate when pressure on trade unionists and discriminatory actions are seen in a superior equipped, world leading oil company," said trade union workers.

The following resolutions were made at the 13th congress of the Georgian Oil and Gas Industry Workers Trade Union:

• “Congress delegates recommend the Board and member organizations to strictly adhere to the segment charter, the law on trade unions, other legal acts, with the help of international professional associations, and support employees in their efforts to address their social and economic legal rights”

• “The delegates express the belief that the sector's trade union and member organizations will adequately meet the challenges they currently face and will use every possible means to protect the rights of each union member.”

Gocha Kvitatiani