BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 1 - 3, 2016
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4,000 Union Members Stand with Pipeline Union in Case against BP work on a collective bargaining project immediately following creation of the primary union. In parallel, it is said that BP started to pursue primary trade union members in order to close the Union. At present, the lawsuit of the deputy chairman ofthePipelineUnioncommittee,Pirmisashvili, who allegedly suffered as a victim of persecution, is under review by the GeorgianCivilCourtwiththeassistanceofUnion lawyers. The fate of the Pipeline Union largely depends on the solution of the lawsuit. “We hope that the truth will prevail," said Kvitatiani in his speech. At the congress meeting, participants expressed their solidarity with the members of the Pipeline Union and its deputy chairman. "There are still cases where leaders [in Georgia] exercise pressure on trade union organizations. Such measures are often covert. It is all the more unfortunate when pressure on trade unionists and discriminatory actions are seen in a superior equipped, world leading oil company," said trade union workers. The following resolutions were made at the 13th congress of the Georgian Oil and Gas Industry Workers Trade Union: • “Congress delegates recommend the Board and member organizations to strictly adhere to the segment charter, the law on trade unions, other legal acts, with the help of international professional associations, and support employees in their efforts to address their social and economic legal rights” • “The delegates express the belief that the sector's trade union and member organizations will adequately meet the challenges they currently face and will use every possible means to protect the rights of each union member.”
BY GOCHA KVITATIANI
S
OCAR Georgia Petroleum, SOCAR Georgia Gas, Batumi Petroleum Terminal and other oil and gas industry members, about 4000 employees in all, have come out in support of the primary trade union ‘Pipeline Union’ and its deputy chairman Vakhtang Pirmisashvili, in the ongoing legal battle with employers BP Georgia and its Human Resources Recruitment Agency (HRRA). Last week, the 13th Congress of Georgian Oil and Gas industry workers was held, attended by delegates of oil and gas industry workers trade union organizations. Among them were SOCAR Georgia Petroleum, SOCAR Georgia Gas, Batumi Oil Terminal, the employment agency's HR and other primary trade union delegates. At the meeting the Head of the Oil and Gas Industry TradeUnion,GochaKvitatiani,gaveareport, the main focus of which was trade union new member organization affairs. In particular, the issues between the Pipeline Union, a professional organization of laborers working for recruitment agency HRRA and for all South Caucasus region energy carriers, and their employers were discussed. It was explained that the employer of the Pipeline Union is BP Georgia, which fully determines its contractor recruitment agency’s work policies. The chairman noted that there had been several attempts by BP employees to join the trade union in the past but through the “negative interference” of BP Georgia, the talks were ceased. The Pipeline Union committee began
Women Working for Free: Expert Market Report Highlights Gender Pay Gaps across Europe BY NINO GUGUNISHVILI
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ollowing the Equal Pay and Gender Pay Gap debate, a new study was conducted and a report released by Expert Market, which claims to be Europe’s leading B2B marketplace, highlighting that the average woman in Europe earn 16.68 percent less annually than men, which is the equivalent of working for free for nearly two months of the year. The report gives a number of examples, including Bosnia, where, according to Expert Market findings, the gender pay gap is the highest in Europe at 46 percent. Slovenia appears to have the lowest at 3.20 percent, the UK shows 19.70 percent and a 34.80 percent pay gap is shown in Georgia. The report was conducted using existing European data and a selection of European studies concerning the gender pay gap, enabling a calculation of the dates on which women this year started “working for free” across Europe, which, for Georgia, was August 25 and for the UK, October 19. The calculation is made using the average earnings of women in each country as a percentage of men’s earnings. When it comes to Georgia, according to another study titled: ‘Priority gender issues in Bosnia and
Herzegovina; Georgia; Moldova; Serbia; and Ukraine – with consideration to gender and governance,’ by Pamela Pozarny and Brigitte Rohwerder, con-
ducted under the GSDRC (June 2016), despite the improving economic environment of the country, there still remain challenges related to women’s participation in business and their ability to benefit from economic opportunities. A weak entrepreneurial and promotion policy and legal environment, poorly skilled employees and limited access to finance are the decisive factors for this, alongside the absence of a “culture” of entrepreneurship. For women, patriarchal attitudes and social customs are what underpin traditional gender roles and limit women’s opportunities. The report also demonstrates the low rate of female employment in the country: 48.8 percent in 2016 compared to 54.5 percent in 2015. Salaries for woman are often lower, while the pay gap is visible in both the private and public sectors. In commenting on their latest workplace report, Michael Horrocks from Expert Market notes: “When we examine gender pay disparity across Europe, it can be difficult to actually imagine how this difference in pay is reflected in everyday life. Our findings highlight the amount of money women across Europe are losing out on in comparison to their male peers. It is disappointing to see that in many European countries, women are essentially working for free for two or more months Gender Pay Gap Map of Europe. Source: Expert Market each year.”
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