Page 8 - GEORptSep19

voters.
"We continue to fight for setting up the movement and party. As I promised the community, this will happen in September. Many young professionals are joining us. These will not be the leaders of an old political party, either from there or from here. It will be a completely new force, " said Khazaradze.
Among his political partners might be Fadi Asli, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. In an unprecedented move, Asli openly criticised Ivanishvili, suggesting his involvement in politics is imminent.
“What I would suggest though is that you read less philosophy and more history, so you discover for yourself how dictators end,” Asly said in an open letter sent to Ivanishvili and quoted by InterPressMedia.ge.
“Under your watch, the national currency has weakened against the American dollar from 1.62 to 2.92. Under your watch, total direct foreign investment decreased to the level of the year 2006. Under your watch, criminality has increased to such an extent that in certain areas of the city people are now scared to walk at night in the streets. Under your watch, corruption has exploded, and we read every day in the press the name of new government officials arrested for corrupt deals, probably for having turned their back on you,” Asly’s open letter added.
2.3 Rights group say Georgia needs better labour regulations to protect miners
International organisation Human Rights Watch, upon surveying labour rights in Georgia, has found that workers’ safety in mines continues to be at serious risk owing to insufficient regulation by the government and resulting mining practices that prioritise production quotas that put workers’ safety in jeopardy. It calls on the government to amend the legislation accordingly.
The report said work hours, rest time, weekly breaks and night work are insufficiently controlled.
The authors of the report r ecommend that the Georgian government should reform its labour laws to protect workers against long hours and pressures that put them at risk. The government should put in place a fully fledged, independent and adequately staffed Labour Inspectorate with a mandate to inspect all working conditions in line with international standards.
In 2006, shortly after the Rose Revolution brought a pro-Western president to power, the government implemented a sweeping deregulatory programme that removed entire sets of rules protecting workers and the environment in a bid to attract foreign investment. This dramatically reduced worker protections in the Labour Code and abolished the Labour Inspectorate. The new Labour Code removed provisions on weekly rest, limits on overtime hours, rate of overtime pay and breaks during shifts. The new code introduced the possibility of oral, rather than written, contracts and made it possible to dismiss workers without notice and for any reason.
Since 2013, the Georgian government has taken important positive steps to
8 GEORGIA Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com