On August 22, 2024, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani and Deputy Public Defender Irine Chikhladze met with the striking employees of Evolution Georgia LLC and listened to their demands and challenges.

The strikers spoke about the violations of their labour rights, as well as health-threatening, unhygienic conditions and degrading treatment by the management.

It is significant that since the announcement of the strike, the Public Defender has repeatedly responded to the mentioned issue and has called on the management of the company and the striking employees to effectively conduct conciliation procedures.

It should be noted that on July 8, 2024, the Public Defender, on his own initiative, began to study the case related to the alleged incitement to discrimination in Evolution Georgia LLC. In order to thoroughly study the case, the Public Defender addressed both the Chief Laboor Inspector and Evolution Georgia LLC. The Public Defender’s Office continues to study the case and will make a final decision after a complete study of the information and documentation provided by the parties.

The Public Defender explains that each issue of the collective labour dispute between the parties is, in fact, fully related to the labour and its related relations, as well as to the effective use of the labour norms. Thus, given the limited mandate to supervise the private sector, the Public Defender lacks the ability to lead the mediation process.

The Public Defender once again calls on Evolution Georgia LLC, in accordance with the requirements established by the labour legislation, to immediately start cooperation with the striking employees and to ensure timely and effective conduct of conciliation procedures.

The Public Defender pledged his support to the striking employees and promised them to fully provide the information received from them to the relevant state agencies.