Borjomi Strike Ends with Most Demands Met

The striking workers of the Borjomi factories, producing popular mineral water, reached an agreement with the management on May 26, ending an 8-days-long general strike that had forced the production to stop.

“Most demands of the employees will be met,” the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) announced, adding that the protests also led to a change of company management, including the director. The new director “unlike the predecessor,” contributed to the positive resolution of the strike, GTUC highlighted.

In the eight-point document signed by the Borjomi management, GTUC Head Irakli Petriashvili, and Head of Agriculture, Trade, and Industry Labor Union Giorgi Diasamidze, the employer pledges consecutive pay rise, overtime payments, guarantees not to oppress the workers on strike, and readiness for active cooperation towards a “collective treaty” on labor conditions and protection.

The agreement also provides for revisions of the salary calculation methods, equal pays for those working on the same positions, precisely defined duties and responsibilities in individual labor agreements, and prioritizing current staffers for vacant positions.

Up to 350 workers went on strike on May 18, demanding, among others, pay rise, rights to holidays and breaks, as well as the prohibition of discrimination in the company on the basis of membership of trade unions. The Borjomi factories are run by IDS Borjomi Georgia LLC, owned by the Russia-based Alfa Group conglomerate.

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