In Tbilisi, railway men on hunger strike banned from installing a tent

For the second day, three employees of the Joint-Stock Company (JSC) "Georgian Railways" continue the hunger strike at the entrance to their employer's main office in Tbilisi.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 14, Vakhtang Tsiskarishvili, Akaki Charelishvili, and Ucha Khvtisiashvili, workers of the "Georgian Railways", claimed violation of their labour rights, and on August 15, they declared hunger strike. According to the hunger strikers, the management of the "Georgian Railway" proposed them to move to workplaces 150 kilometres from their houses, and when they refused, they faced warnings of dismissal.

The railway men complained that the top management of the "Georgian Railway" refuses to start a dialogue with them.

"The management makes statements only for journalists. Meanwhile, they have never approached us, as if we do not exist. We will continue our hunger strike until the top managers listen to us and meet us," Vakhtang Tsiskarishvili told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Vakhtang Tsiskarishvili has said that his wage is 500 laris (about 210 US dollars), and the money is not enough to rent an apartment at his new place of work.

Yesterday, on August 15, according to him, the police did not allow the hunger-strikers to install a tent. The policemen on duty near the "Georgian Railways" office stated that the hunger-strikers wanted to install their tent too close to the administrative building.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.