Twenty-one days into a strike demanding better pay and working conditions, employees of Evolution Georgia escalated their protest by beginning a sit-in at the company’s main office entrances in Tbilisi.

The workers, primarily game presenters, pledged not to physically obstruct anyone from entering the premises but stated that those wishing to do so would have to ‘step over’ them.

During the sit-in, several men who appeared to be company security pushed protesters away from the entrance. While this led to a small scuffle, the protest remained largely nonviolent and did not prompt forceful police intervention.

According to the striking employees, Evolution Georgia predominantly employ students, whom the workers claim they exploit by neglecting poor wages, inadequately addressing ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ behaviour from management, and failing to improve unsanitary conditions and poor equipment at the workplace.

They reported that studios where online games are filmed suffer from poorly regulated temperatures, inadequate air ventilation, insect infestations, and the absence of medical support.

[Read more about the claims: Georgian online casino employees to go on strike] 

Since the strike began on 12 July, the company has remained largely silent on these issues. They did, however, deny allegations that video cameras operated in staff changing rooms, citing positive findings from an undated inspection by the Personal Data Protection Service. 

The company also claims to have fired managers accused of using derogatory language towards subordinate staff in leaked screenshots of internal work chats.

Several groups have expressed support for the strike organised by the Evo-Georgia union together with Labor, which is part of the larger Georgian Trade Unions Confederation. The groups include moped delivery workers in Tbilisi, leaders of groups of miners from the western town of Chiatura, ‘analytical platform’ Komentari, the Young Greens, and the Young Socialists.

The strike at one of the largest employers of students has been largely ignored by major human rights organisations in Georgia, with a handful of exceptions including the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) and Partnership for Human Rights (PHR). 

In their statement, GYLA underlined the company’s problematic record on human rights and called on Georgia’s labour inspection agency to look into the claims, including an allegation that Evolution Georgia had discriminated against unionised employees. 

Evolution Georgia employees began unionising in 2019 after the company fired workers after they made demands similar to those in the current protest.

Read in Russian on SOVA.News.