When the workers established their union on August 4, the company immediately fired six of its elected representatives, provoking a warning strike by the workers on 2 September. The company then fired more of the workers, after which the workforce launched a full-scale strike with several members also going on hunger strike.
“Georgia’s state repression of freedom of association is getting even worse. This government is behaving like a totalitarian dictatorship, and this should not be tolerated by the international community,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
For more information, see the protest letter to President Saakashvili