NEWS
GEORGIA TODAY FEBRUARY 10 - 13, 2017
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Modern Slavery? Fresco Employees Georgia and France Claim Working Conditions Violated Expand Cooperation Continued from page 1
Some salaries are said to have been reduced by 50 percent and in other cases by more than the previously agreed 20 percent, with no clear answer given as to why, though the employees suspect they may be fines and penalties. However, no official documentation has been provided to justify the salary cuts by Fresco management. The employees also allege that anyproducts returned by customers are then cut in value from their salaries. Bar codes show different prices when scanned, the employees claim in their Facebook post, misleading the customers. During the New Year period, the
employees say they were made to work 12 hours a day without a break, and instead of being paid the expected 40 GEL overtime, they claim were paid just 18 GEL. The fines and penalties – from 10 to 100 GEL - placed on the employees are “unfair,” they say, for example, an employee who hangs his coat on a hook instead of in the cupboard will be issued a penalty of 20 GEL. When one of the Fresco branch employees decided to leave in November, they were told their CV would be “black-listed”. Fresco management are denying all the accusations. “Compared to our competitors, Fresco employees have beneficial working conditions with high salaries, promotion possibilities and free meals,” they stated. “Fines and penalties are applied as disciplinary sanctions on the employees for violating rules- not coming to work on time, not serving the customers in a good and timely manner, not displaying
the product prices correctly, etc.,” Mariam Apridonidze, Marketing and PR representative from Fresco, told news service Tabula, pointing out it is not stated at the time of applying the penalty exactly which rule the employee broke. “Employees are aware which penalties are issued and for what, and know that these amounts will be taken off their salaries.” Apridonidze outright denied that Fresco employees are forced to work overtime hours, claiming that overtime only happens when mutually agreed beforehand. She went on to refute all other accusations against the company. Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Maintenance said it would investigate the case and inspect the working conditions in the supermarket chain. Ministry representatives planned to meet both employees and managers and look over the agreements. If labor law violations were found, it said the case would then be sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the time of going to press, it was announced by Imedi news that Health Minister Sergeenko is claiming no violations were found at Fresco.
CNN’s List of 20 Travel Destinations Includes Old Tbilisi Baths BY THEA MORRISON
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NN’s list of 20 Travel Destinations includes Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and its famous Abanotubani thermal baths. "Situated on the south side of Metekhi Bridge, its low cupolas house baths where water bubbles from the earth at about 90 F (32 C),” writes CNN. The article goes on to explain that Tbilisi was named for the water: “Tbilisi gets its name from the Old Georgian word "tbili," meaning warm, due to its hot, sulfurous water." The article cites Sarah Freeman, photojournalist, who claims Tbilisi is "a new European city brimming with East-meetsWest culture and natural sulfurous waters that give the Cagaloglu Baths a run for its money" and goes on to recommend a visit to the Georgian capital's bath quarter, Abanotubani. "When I went, I sipped on Turkish tea
The Tbilisi bath houses. Photo: Roedolf Thorpe
and indulged in a massage from one of the mekise (masseur)," Sarah is quoted as saying.
Other destinations on the list include: Indonesia, Egypt, Namibia, Canada, Brazil, and Montenegro.
Georgian Foreign Minister meets with representatives of the Georgian Diaspora in France
BY THEA MORRISON
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he French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Jean-Marc Ayrault, this week conf irmed that France supports the ongoing reforms in Georgia and the country’s European integration, and is ready to further expand co-operation between the two countries in a number of areas. Ayrault made the statement on Tuesday, during a meeting with his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Janelidze. The French Minister congratulated Janelidze on the European Parliament’s decision to lift visas for Georgian citizens and the Georgian Foreign Minister in turn thanked his French colleague for his active support of Georgia. The officials discussed existing relations between the two countries and expressed readiness to further expand cooperation in the economy sector. Janelidze informed his French colleague of the Georgian government’s priorities in tourism, energy, infrastructure and agriculture, and outlined prospects for mutual relations in these areas. The sides also discussed cooperation in the areas of defense and security. Georgia’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) reports that the French Foreign Minister reaffirmed France’s strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, being firmly against any attempt of annexation of the territories of sovereign countries. “Jean-Marc Ayrault stressed that France finds inadmissible the so-called agreements signed by Russia with Georgia’s occupied regions,” the Ministry reports. The French Foreign Minister thanked Georgia for contributing to international security and underlined the importance of Georgia’s participation in the peacekeeping missions in the
Central African Republic and Mali. The sides also spoke about Georgia’s participation at the Bordeaux-based Wine Civilization Museum and agreed to work closely to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, with Janelidze inviting Jean-Marc Ayrault to take part in the anniversary events to be held in Georgia. Prior to meeting his French counterpart, Janelidze held a meeting with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, Elisabeth Guigou, in which they focused on the security situation in the region, including in Georgia’s occupied territories. The sides expressed their readiness to further deepen cooperation in economy, tourism, infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors. The Georgian Foreign Minister also met with the Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, Harlem Desir, who expressed his interest in Georgia’s energy, infrastructure, tourism and agriculture sectors. The officials underlined the importance of the South Caucasus Office of the Agency of French Development (AFD) in Georgia which will contribute to the attraction of French investments to Georgia. Janelidze then visited representatives of the Georgian diaspora in Paris to discuss the Georgian government’s policy with respect to Georgian citizens living abroad, including projects and programs the Ministry plans to carry out to involve the Georgian Diaspora in the development processes of Georgia. Before completing his three-day visit to France, the Georgian Foreign Minister was invited to speak on Radio France Internationale about the main agenda of his meetings in France. “Our ultimate aim is full membership of the European Union,” Janelidze said in his interview, stressing that the Georgian people had made a choice to return to the European family, “where they always belonged”.