For more than a month, thousands of employees of Evolution, an online gambling company based in Sweden, have been on strike in Tbilisi, Georgia, protesting over pay, allegations of harassment, and unsafe working conditions
The strike began in mid-July but escalated in August. Giorgi Diasamidze, head of the employee union LABOR, said the company initially threatened that a strike would cause it to pull out of the country entirely, and cut 1,000 jobs after the strike was announced. Many workers have been forced back to work as they struggle to support themselves. But about 400 members are still on strike and the union has maintained its picket at Evolution’s Tbilisi facility throughout, even though the company brought in teams of heavy-handed security workers, the union alleges attacked workers.
A handful of workers, including Mahare Patashuri, went on a hunger strike. “I can’t believe I am still alive,” Patashuri told tech journal WIRED in August. Last week, Patashuri was taken to the hospital after 28 days without food.
Workers have told of low pay and difficult working conditions which include harassment by customers online as well as the company’s management. To create the realistic casino-like environment required, the workers must stand at the tables on camera for eight hours a day. They say they are penalized for needing to leave, even for health reasons. Over time, these violations can add up. The workers lose pay, and can even lose their jobs, they allege
Workers have issued a series of demands, including overtime pay for holidays, better sanitary conditions within the offices, an onsite doctor, and a pay increase of 100 percent to more closely match what dealers in brick and mortar casinos make in Tbilisi.
UNI Global Union Head of Gaming Giedre Lelyte, said: “Evolution workers were driven to strike because the company refused to negotiate over living wages, safer conditions and dignity on the job – basic needs for workers everywhere. Despite what the company’s management says, this struggle is not a local fight, but a global one. Unions in Sweden, Spain, the United States and beyond know the importance of workers’ demands and recognize Evolution’s behaviour for what it is: union busting. We won’t stop until Evolution respects workers and sits down with Evo to negotiate.”
Read more: Online Casino Workers Went on Hunger Strike Over Working Conditions | WIRED, UNI Global Union Media Release Swedish unions call out Evolution Gaming for anti-union stance