25 August, 2017After more than a year of negotiations, a collective agreement for the Ksani glass container factory in Georgia was signed.
On 22 August, the fifth round of negotiations was held to sign a collective agreement at the glass container factory in Ksani (JSC MINA), owned by the Turkish company Şişecam Glass Packaging Group.
IndustriALL affiliate the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG) concluded the collective agreement with a significant package of social benefits. There are 220 workers at the plant. The collective agreement provides the following for TUMMCIWG members:
- Compensation for night work, overtime and working on public holidays at a premium rate;
- An annual wage rise, based on an index linked to the inflation rate. Salary will be indexed from 2016.
- Financial assistance for childbirth, marriage or the death of a close relative to the amount of 500 GEL (US $207);
- Monthly financial assistance to large families for every child under 18 years to the amount of 30 GEL (US $ 12) from 1 October 2017.
In addition, a bonus system will be launched from 1 January 2018. Trade union representatives will have the opportunity to present their own remarks and opinions.
This is the third collective agreement in the metallurgical, mining and chemical industry sector after Rustavi Azot and Zestafoni ferroalloy factory. The company accepted the idea of a collective agreement after a month-long strike of 170 workers in February 2016 that paralyzed operations at the plant.
The first two meetings of the union and the plant management were held in Georgia, but because of the strictly centralized structure of the Şişecam company, the general director of the plant could not take a decision on the conclusion of a collective agreement.
On 19 April, the owner invited five representatives of the TUMMCIWG to its head office in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting made a breakthrough in the negotiations which resulted in the conclusion of a collective agreement.
The president of the TUMMCIWG Tamaz Dolaberidze stated:
“I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in the collective negotiation process. I would like to thank all the employees of the enterprise from which we felt a great deal of support during this period, it gave us great inspiration to move ahead. I appreciate the support of IndustriALL Global Union, whose leaders have visited Georgia several times during the collective negotiations and held meetings with the administration”.