Category: NEWS
Local Workforce Shortage in the Balkans
The chronic lack of workforce is becoming a big issue for the Balkans. With its low wages and stalled EU membership, it is especially noticeable in Montenegro in the midst of the summer season. The country is struggling to find local labour, despite being heavily reliant on tourism as a primary source of income. Many […]
Read moreKazakhstan and Austria: ways to simplify the visa regime and consular cooperation
Comprehensive Cooperation with Austria in Focus of Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister’s Visit to Vienna During his visit to Vienna, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alibek Bakayev met with Secretary General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Nikolaus Marschik, DKnews.kz reports. The interlocutors discussed the prospects for the development of Kazakh-Austrian relations, in particular […]
Read moreGeorgian Labour Minister, national Unions Confederation Chair, European Trade Union Confederation Secretary discuss labour rights
The meeting also featured Tamar Surmava, the Deputy Chair of the GTUC, and Lorenzo Rrepetti, the Director of Policy Department of the ETUC. Photo: Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Georgian Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Health, Labour […]
Read moreStrike of thousands at Georgia’s major student employer
Demand of a pay raise and proper working conditions made more than 4,000 workers at Evolution Georgia, an online casino known for employing a large number of Georgian students, go on strike on July 12.
The company employs “about 16,000+ people in studios across Europe and North America,” half of which, up to 8,000 employees, could be working from “Evolution Georgia”, opened in 2018. They are mostly local students seeking employment to make ends meet.
The official wage policy reports that a full-time entry-level job as a game presenter can earn up to GEL 900 (USD 329) net per month for day shifts and GEL 1225 (USD 450) for night shifts.
But the workers say that the net hourly wages range from GEL 3 (USD 1) for shufflers to GEL 5 (USD 1.8) for game presenters, and an important part of their salaries consists of bonuses of GEL 300-400 (USD 110-145) per month that they could easily lose due to unforeseen circumstances. Workers have to sit upright for hours on uncomfortable chairs, under bright lights and cameras pointed at them, with poor air conditioning.
Launching strikes legally is notoriously complicated in Georgia, so, this one is called “historic.” The company management is trying to prevent the workers from joining the action. The Georgian Public Defender’s office has issued a statement citing widespread practices of employers resorting to “harassment of workers based on dissenting opinions, dismissals, or other types of violations of labor rights” when faced with worker dissatisfaction.
According to Evolution Georgia, the majority of workers continue to work.
Georgian workers struggle nationwide to secure better working conditions. Young people are also searching to protect their political and social rights.
Georgian students have never had an easy life, but the economic shocks of recent years made it even worse. It became more difficult to afford to study in Tbilisi for students hailing from outside the capital, which has led to repeated protests at Georgian universities.
Some observers have come to suggestion that the problem of Evolution Georgia goes far beyond the dimension of labor rights: thousands of students were flocking to gambling companies, due to lack of better alternatives.
According to Guro Imnadze of the Social Justice Center, a Georgian progressive NGO, working in online casinos, call centers, and similar fields leads to “exhausted, exploited, non-professional workers who have nowhere to go but to another similar sector that continues to exploit and exhaust such people”.
He reminds about the state’s responsibility to ensure the proper functioning of the labor market, which requires reforming education, vocational training, and student employment programs.
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Read moreGermany integrates Ukrainians moderately into labor market
Germany integrates Ukrainians moderately into labor market Over one million Ukrainians are fleeing to Germany. Who can, should work – this is what politics demands. Some ignite a debate about social benefits. But it’s not fair, as shown. According to a comparative study of labor markets in EU countries, social transfer payments have little influence […]
Read moreSerbian Citizens Can Now Enter Iran Without a Visa
Citizens from the Republic of Serbia have been exempt from visa requirements to enter Iran. This decision was announced during the fourth meeting of the Joint Consular Commission between Iran and Serbia, where it was announced that the new plans of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran have already entered into force, VisaGuide.World reports. […]
Read moreKazakh Citizens Can Stay in Thailand Up to 60 Days Visa-Free
The Tourism Authority of Thailand included Kazakhstan among countries now eligible for more extended visa-free stays in Thailand. Under the updated rules, Kazakh citizens and nationals of 92 other countries and territories can enjoy visa-free travel to Thailand for up to 60 days, up from the previous 30-day limit. This stay can be extended by […]
Read moreThousands at Georgia’s Major Student Employer Go on Strike
More than 4,000 workers at Evolution Georgia, an online casino known for employing a large number of Georgian students, went on strike on July 12, demanding a pay raise and proper working conditions. The strike follows longstanding concerns about working conditions for the mostly student staff and recent scandalous chat leaks in which managers allegedly […]
Read moreEC reports moderate preparation of Serbia in the field of employment
According to the report of the European Commission, the unemployment rate on the Serbian labor market has decreased in compared to the same period in the fourth quarter of 2022.
A great importance for the assessment of labor and social rights in Serbia, as well as for the functioning of the local labor market, is attributed to the report of the European Commission (EC). The EC reports that the country is moderately prepared in terms of social policy and employment. First of all, it praised Serbia for some progress in relation to last year’s recommendations with the adoption of the new Law on Safety and Health at Work, which is partially aligned with the legal legislation of the European Union.
However, with regard to labor legislation, the country hasn’t fully aligned amendments to the Labor Law of 2014 with European Union law and has to begin the work on the draft of the new Labor Law, including provisions for foreign posted workers in accordance with EU law, in order to avoid further delay of the implementation of the Chapter 19 action plan. Meanwhile, they haven’t passed the new Strikes Act yet, and it needs to change the legal framework in order to strengthen bipartite and tripartite social dialogue at all levels. As Politika reported, this is especially true if the assessment that the social dialogue in Serbia is assessed as very weak, especially in relation to the participation of the social partners in the development of important policies for them, is taken into account.
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Read moreThere are over 14,000 foreign workers in Kazakhstan
According to the data of the Kazakh Labor and Special Protection Ministry’s press service from June 1, 2024 cited by Kazinform News Agency, local executive bodies gave work permits to some 13,937 foreign nationals allowing them to legally work in Kazakhstan.
Foreign labor is currently being attracted to Kazakhstan by 1,789 employers. They also employ 443,400 Kazakh citizens which makes 99.2% of the total employees working for them.
The construction sector engages the highest number of foreign employees (4,403 people), then follow agriculture, forestry, and fishery (1,817), administrative and support services (1,684), the mining industry (1,387) and manufacturing (1,275).
China (3,938 people), Uzbekistan (1,919), India (1,145) and Türkiye (1,101) are the countries where most of the labor migrants arrived from.
A quota for attracting foreign specialists to the republic is annually established and distributed by the Labor and Special Protection Ministry in order to protect the domestic labor market. They set the total quota for 2024 at 0.23% of the labor force in the republic, or 22 jobs.
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