Social workers to sue probation agency over political dismissals as rights groups condemn anti-democratic labour amendments
Today, the Social Workers’ Union announced plans to sue the National Probation Agency, accusing it of not renewing the contracts of their four employees on political grounds after they participated in anti-government protests.
The union stated that political discrimination is the only plausible explanation, given the agency’s ongoing shortage of human resources and its recent decisions to dismiss qualified staff instead of hiring additional personnel. A similar allegation was also voiced by another group, Social Workers’ Association.
The Social Workers’ Union emphasised that the dismissals have left their beneficiaries without support. Prior to being fired, the employees had reportedly faced violations of labour rights, including unregulated caseloads, unpaid overtime, insufficient salaries, and regular short-term contracts — issues the union intends to include in their collective lawsuit against the agency.
In recent weeks, public employees have been unionising in response to reports of widespread dismissals across various public institutions, with the government’s anti-EU turn and crackdown on protesters widely suspected as the primary motives.
In addition to the social workers’ dismissals, the Tbilisi-based rights group Democracy Research Institute (DRC) has drawn attention to the recent decision not to renew the contract of Giga Sopromadze, the Executive Secretary of the Tbilisi City Hall Council on Disability Issues and a vocal government critic since late November.
‘The open dismissal of public employees on partisan grounds, along with amendments to the Public Service Law aimed at stripping public servants of labour protections, is yet another sign that Georgian Dream has stepped outside the constitutional and legal framework’, DRC stated today.
Within hours of assuming office, the disputed Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili signed those amendments, alongside other legal changes adopted by Georgian Dream party in the newly launched parliament, widely criticised as anti-democratic. The local rights groups have argued that these changes to Public Service Law have drastically simplified the dismissal of employees, enabling politically motivated terminations, while further eroding labour protections and curtailing freedom of speech.