Chiatura

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Shukruti. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura

In Pictures | Living on the brink of collapse in Shukruti

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

In 2021, Vera Kupatadze was one of eight people who spent a month on hunger strike, her lips sewn shut, to demand compensation from Georgian Manganese for damage to her property. Today, Vera is one of dozens of Shukrutians who are demanding action and clarity from the company, which operates the mines in Chiatura, on the fate of their houses and the entire village. [Read more: Mine entrance blocked near Shukruti in renewed protest against Georgian Manganese] During the 2021 protests,

Residents of Shukruti in western Georgia in front of a mine in their village. Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura

Mine entrance blocked near Shukruti in renewed protest against Georgian Manganese

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•4 min read

Residents of a village near the Georgian mining town of Chiatura have blocked access to a mine running under their village, to demand adequate compensation for the destruction of their village. Residents of Shukruti, in western Georgia, set up a tent outside the mine entrance on Wednesday, the latest in a series of protests against mining company Georgian Manganese. The land in and around Shukruti began to collapse in 2019, with Georgian Manganese initially denying any connection to the mine

Miners concluded their protest outside the parliament on 24 June. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura

Chiatura miners’ strike ends after company caves on key demands

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

A strike by manganese miners in the central Georgian town of Chiatura has come to an end after 18 days, with the mining company agreeing to key demands from the workers. On Saturday, mining firm Georgian Manganese agreed to reverse new ore quotas that miners had described as ‘inhuman’. They also agreed to honour their contractual obligation to increase salaries by 12%, in line with inflation. The miners went on strike after the company announced that workers would have to mine up to 40% more

A group of striking miners from Chiatura outside the parliament building in Tbilisi. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

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Why the far right is trying to infiltrate a miners’ strike in Georgia

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

Manganese miners from the central Georgian town of Chiatura have for weeks been on strike over their working conditions. But since a portion of the strikers moved their protest to the capital Tbilisi, far-right figures have been seen attempting to ingratiate themselves into the protests, leaving the miners unsure who to trust. When several dozen striking miners and their supporters arrived in Tbilisi on 19 June, their intention was to bring wider attention to their cause. And the strike resona

Beka Grigoriadis after having sewn his eye and lips shut. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura

Foreign agent law protester’s father sews shut mouth and eye

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The father of the first participant in Georgia’s foreign agent law protests to face criminal charges sewed his eye and lips shut on Tuesday demanding his son’s release. Beka Grigoriadis has been holding a permanent protest behind the parliament building in Tbilisi since 29 May, demanding the release of his son. Lazare Grigoriadis, 21, was arrested on 29 March on charges of attacking a policeman and destroying government property during the protests against the foreign agent law in March of t

Chiatura

In pictures | Portrait of a mass hunger strike

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•6 min read

Warning: this article contains images that some may find disturbing. In early February, Georgian Manganese, the mining company that controls the manganese mines in the central Georgian town of Chiatura, announced that the mines were being all but suspended due to a global slump in the ferroalloy market. After spending three months on 60% pay, workers began to be called back to work in late May where they were introduced to ‘optimised’ work plans — they would have to extract 40% more ore or

Chiatura

Podcast | Chiatura goes on strike

by OC Media

•1 min read

‘Thousands’ of miners employed by Georgian Manganese in the mining town of Chiatura went on strike to protest working conditions in the mines. The miners demanded better pay, paid holiday and sick leaves, and the full resumption of production of mines after it had been put on hold for months. On this week’s episode, Robin Fabbro speaks to Mariam Nikuradze about the situation on the ground, and to the Social Justice Center’s Salome Shubladze about the legal challenges faced b