In its ruling on 21 March, Tbilisi City Court indefinitely forebode metro drivers’ union Ertoba 2013 from going on strike ‘during working hours’. The drivers said the Tbilisi Transport Company, who operate the metro, have internal regulations obliging them to be well-rested before work, which might be compromised on Monday as they will be sleepless because of their hunger strike.
Archil Labadze from Ertoba 2013 told OC Media the metro drivers will go to work tomorrow and declare they are tired and sleepless, and therefore cannot take responsibility for driving trains.
‘This automatically means the Metro will stop as there won’t be anyone left who could substitute the drivers. Everyone who is currently off work is here with us’, said Labadze.
The metro drivers said their protest would last until their demands are met.
On 18 April, Tbilisi metro drivers demanded a salary raise due to ‘harsh working conditions’. They warned that they would go on strike on 3 May, paralysing the whole metro system. The drivers said an average driver made ₾1,150 ($465) a month before tax, an hourly wage of ₾7 ($3), which they said should be raised to ₾10 ($4) per hour.
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