After elevator's failure, Tkibuli miners go on strike

Workers of the Dzidziguri and Mindeli Mines in the city of Tkibuli have demanded to repair the lifting equipment after some miners got stuck in the elevator. Bosses of the company that manages the mines have accused workers of violating safety requirements.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Tkibuli miners had repeatedly staged strikes, claiming their unsafe working conditions.

On June 10, miners refused to go down into the Mindeli Mine, demanding to observe labour safety rules and increase their wages, Tamaz Dolaberidze, the chairman of the trade union of metallurgical and mining workers, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On June 9, an industrial failure occurred in the Mindeli Mine – the cage (elevator) with 22 miners inside got stuck, said Mr Dolaberidze: "The cage got stuck; the miners couldn't get out right away, and spent 10 hours there. When they left, they demanded from the administration to repair the lifting system. Otherwise, they threatened not to restart work."

The mine bosses asked miners not to stop working, promising to make repairs in parallel. But this did not suit miners, and they decided also to demand a wage increase, the union leader has added.

In their turn, the bosses of the "Saknakhshiri" Company that manages the Tkibuli mines, claim that the incident in the mine occurred due to the violation of safety rules committed by miners themselves, the "Sputnik Georgia" has reported. Workers decided to leave the mine two hours earlier, without warning anyone; and at that time the elevator was switched to the cargo transportation mode, the company has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 11, 2020 at 01:28 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.