Strike on the Cards at Evolution’s Tbilisi Dealer Studio
Workers at Evolution’s Tbilisi, Georgia dealer studio are set to strike this Friday after negotiations for better pay and working conditions broke down last week.
Local Georgian media outlet OC Media, were told by Giorgi Diasamidze, chair of local union LABOR, that up to 5,000 workers would initially join the strike.
According to Diasamidze, “For two years now, the labour union and the employees of Evolution have been conducting negotiations for decent labour rights at Evolution Georgia”.
The union claims working conditions are unsafe, unsanitary and that workers are underpaid and faced harassment from managers.
Frictions have been further exacerbated by leaked internal communication between management containing discriminatory remarks toward staff. Video footage of the janitor’s restroom located in the same room as a toilet has also surfaced. Screenshots of the damning communications and the video have both been posted on Facebook, with Evolution Georgia promising to investigate.
Evolution’s Tbilisi Georgia headquarters
If media reports are accurate, the majority of Evolution’s Tbilisi work force will begin their strike this Friday 12 July.
But a spokesperson from Evolution head office has said that it has not been officially notified of any strike action – something that is required under the Georgian Labour Code before a strike can actually go ahead.
Speaking to Next.io, Evolution’s head of investor relations Carl Linton said,
“We have recently concluded a dialogue with the local union, representing a smaller number of our employees, and a mediator appointed by the government relating to a series of demands put forward by the union. We have not reached an agreement which has led the union in question to make several claims in the media.
He noted that the union is supposed to give Evolution 3 days notice of any planned strike action as well as providing a list of all participating employees.
Evolution’s Tbilisi, Georgia studio now employs almost 8,000 staff. It has grown considerably since first taking bets back in 2018 and now ranks as Evolutions second largest studio after Riga, Latvia. Evolution Georgia are now one of the largest employers in Tbilisi.
The location is no stranger to industrial action. Shufflers protested and went on strike in August 2019 demanding better pay and conditions. In 2020 over a 1,000 staff were let go with Evolution blaming economic conditions in the wake of COVID-19.
Ongoing industrial action and consequent disruption to studio operations have led to Evolution announcing August 12 that 1,000 Georgia studio jobs will be axed.
According to a spokesperson from Evolution, “The recent illegal actions initiated by one of the local unions have hindered Evolution’s ability to operate in Georgia and has hurt Evolution’s customers, many of which now no longer wish to operate their tables from Georgia,”
Client-exclusive tables in Georgia are being relocated to other studios amid a loss of customer confidence in Georgia. Tables are already being dismantled.