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Merab, a 31-year-old manganese mountain man in Georgia, is lucky enough to be alive. Two years ago he suffered underground when he suffered a deep cut around his waist when an exhausted colleague accidentally pressed the start button on a piece of mining equipment. He worked for 12 -hour shifts on 15 days in a row, including at night -a system that affects around 380 workers in Georgian manganese in Chiatatura, West Georgia.
But there could be a glimmer of hope for employees like Merab, with signs that the government may finally look at a long -needed look at the question of working hours and related problems.
In our August report “No year without death”, how the quota pressure and the inadequate calm contribute to uncertain working conditions. Workers in a coal and a manganese described deep cuts, were buried under rocks when roofs collapsed, limbs lost, suffering from brain suffering or avoiding serious accidents. This is possible because Georgian law does not regulate the working hours sufficiently, and since 2006 there has been no proper system of workplace employment inspections.
At the end of August in a meeting to check our results, representatives of Georgian civil society, unions, the parliament, the EU and the US delegations and other important actors search for opportunities to improve working conditions. The discussion focused on a parliamentary initiative that should be introduced in autumn and takes into account the legal gaps, including provisions for a complete work inspector and working hours. However, activists of Georgian civil society are still aware that critics of the regulation try to weaken the provisions or to have postponed the implementation of the initiative, which means that the employees are unprotected and endangered.
Merab recently told me that, although he was injured in the mine, he now wanted to return to the same job and work in work in work. There are no other jobs that pay so much in his city – in fact, the mine is the main employer of the community.
Workers do dangerous working conditions because their need for work gives them little choice. However, the Georgian government has the choice and an obligation to protect its employees. Georgia should do the right thing and regulate working hours, invest a complete workforce and ensure that Merab and all Georgian employees can work under safe, decent conditions.
