Page 18 - GEORptFeb20

Wages in Georgia up real 2.4% y/y in Q2
operated by Chinese investors, demonstrated problems raised with regulations and labour practices, they added.
“Authorities pursued largely one-sided accountability [after the Tbilisi events]. They launched a mass riot investigation, charging at least 19 protesters, 15 of whom remained in pretrial custody at the time of writing. The prosecutor’s office designated 67 police officers and only four civilians as victims, depriving many of the injured protesters the opportunity to review investigation files. [...] Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office charged three police officers with exceeding their powers and assaulting a detained protester; courts released all three on bail,” according to the report.
HRW accused authorities of having twice postponed the launching of a state inspector’s office. It was formulated in 2018 to investigate abuses committed by law enforcement and other public officials, but it has not yet taken the form of what was promised, with officials citing a lack of financing. The report said it had failed to deliver results.
The body became operational on November 1. By September, the Ombudsman’s Office had received 54 complaints of ill-treatment by prison staff or police and had petitioned the prosecutor’s office to launch investigations in 52 cases. None had resulted in criminal prosecution.
HRW also concluded that Georgian labour law does not sufficiently regulate working hours, rest time, weekly breaks and night work, and does not provide for government oversight of all labour conditions.
Lax regulations and consequent labour practices often prioritise production targets that undermine workers’ safety, HRW said.
For example, the cited manganese mines work 12-hour shifts underground, including at night, for 15 straight days, resulting in exhaustion and the increasing the likelihood of workplace accidents and injuries, according to the report. In May, some 2,500 miners from some of the mines went on strike for 12 days, demanding better working conditions and a pay rise.
The average wage in Georgia increased by 6.9% y/y to Georgian lari (GEL) 1,180 ($400) in Q2.​ Growth was, however, only 2.4% y/y in real terms. The income discrepancies in Georgia are wide in terms of size and growth and in the past couple of years have generally increased at rates below GDP growth.
The average wage in manufacturing was GEL 1,066 in Q2, up by a real 7.7% y/y. In contrast, the average wage in education was only GEL636, after moving up by a real 3.0% y/y. The highest wages are in financial services (GEL2,394), professional services (GEL1,900), IT (GEL1,806) and mining (GEL1,542). The lowest wages, beside education, are in agriculture (GEL683) and utilities (GEL790).
Real wages over the past 12 months in Georgia increased by 2.2% y/y compared to a GDP growth of over 4%. The trend growth in wages is rather volatile, with the indicator accelerating from 1.5% y/y in Q1. Over the past two years, the trend growth of wages, supposed to smooth out the volatility of monthly or quarterly dynamics, ranged from --0.7% y/y to +3.5% y/y. The cross-sector section of the growth rates database indicates that, in Q2, the
18​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com