As Georgia prepares for the parliamentary elections on 26 October, the country finds itself at a critical juncture. In a post-socialist country where there is no left-wing political presence in the Parliament, the recent strike in Tbilisi by employees of Evolution Gaming Georgia, an online casino company, is rooted in the social movements of recent years. The strike should be understood as more than a labour dispute but a significant case that underscores the broader struggle for social justice amid the ruling Georgian Dream party is navigating the country with increasingly authoritarian tendencies and strengthening neoliberal policies.
Mobilisations, authoritarian backlash and elections
The Georgian society was recently shaken by the adoption of the Foreign Agent Law. At first glance, this legislation appears to be directed at civil society organisations (CSOs), particularly those that receive funding from Western sources. However, the implications of this legislation extend well beyond the targeting of these CSOs. This law can be seen as the first step in repressing any criticism or opposition against the ruling party stemming from CSOs or social movements.
Like Russia’s infamous ‘anti-agent law’ that was established in 2012 and spread to other countries in the region such as Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, Georgia’s version of the law serves as an effective tool for silencing opposition to the ruling party policies. In Georgia, the adoption of the Foreign Agent Law triggered mass protests from April to May 2024. However, contrary to the March 2023 protests against the first introduction of the law, mobilisations failed to prevent the enactment despite their scale. Similarly to last year’s protests, they were first violently repressed in the street, but then the repression took a more insidious face with the direct targeting of activists, CSO employees or political opponents.
Yet, the strengthening of control over civil society has come at the expense of pro-European and democratic aspirations: the hard-won EU candidate status has been suspended. But in the context of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the timing of the law’s adoption appears to be a strategic move by the Georgian Dream to retain power, a position it has held since 2012. By striving to eliminate the influence of various collective actions, the government seeks to control potential electoral mobilisation and silence critics from any aspect of civil society, including liberal CSOs, but also leftist movements, independent media outlets, local trade unions, and grassroots initiatives.
The rise of grassroots and leftist movements is particularly important in this context as they have been criticizing systemic issues arising from the neoliberal policies initiated by the former ruling party, the United National Movement, and pursued by the Georgian Dream. These two parties dominate and polarise the political landscape, perpetuating neoliberal consensus that tends to be difficult to challenge. However, this is precisely what leftist, and grassroots movements have sought to achieve. By questioning the underlying causes of contemporary social issues and striving to address the root causes of social inequality and injustice, they have been calling for structural change.
In essence, the Foreign Agent Law is not merely a legal instrument to suppress CSOs but also serves to undermine grassroots resistance, marginalise subaltern actors and limit the ability of social movements to organise and protest. Examples of such actions and their repression by the authorities can already be found in the illustrative case of the Rioni Valley struggle against the Namakhvani Hydro Power Plant – as the Rioni Guardians were depicted as foreign agents, or more precisely ‘Russian Spies’. Given the shrinking space for protests, the Evolution Gaming strike has become a significant event, in addition to the important support and a months-lasting mobilisation.
Evolution Gaming Strike: expressing labour conditions demands amidst blooming social movements
The strike at Evolution Gaming, initiated by the EVO Union, has become a symbol of resistance against worsening labour conditions in Georgia. In July, the strike was sparked by revelations of alarming labour and sanitary conditions, as well as bullying by managers. Hundreds of employees went on strike to denounce the infringement of labour rights and display demands. It includes wage increases, longer breaks, better hygiene, and safety conditions – issues which highlight the precarious environment in which they work. Demonstrations and regular pickets have been taking place in front of the primary work facility in Tbilisi, where the protesters set tents and have been engaging in meetings and speeches. Charity concerts have also been organised to provide financial assistance to the strikers and mitigate the impact of their participation in the action. The significance of the situation is underscored by the fact that Evolution Gaming employs a workforce of over 8000 individuals the majority of whom are students, as their first job.
Despite the company’s efforts to downplay the scale of the action, the strike gained significant backing, with 4,600 employees formally expressing their support, making it one of the most important strikes in Georgia’s recent history. A 40-point proposal was already sent to Evolution’s management in the spring, including calls for such improvements, yet the company has refused to engage with the workers. The company claims it offers wages twice what workers would earn in comparable industries and maintains that the local labour inspectorate has confirmed its compliance with high standards. Evolution’s resistance has escalated as the struggle continued being ignored by the state and the company, leading to more extreme actions by the employees, such as hunger strikes from the 13th of August. The strikers’ tactics – which have included blocking the company entrance – have prompted Evolution to accuse them of illegal behaviour. However, the strikers have defended their actions as being entirely legal.
In addition to the physical and emotional impact on the workers, Evolution has also faced financial consequences. Despite the company’s operations reportedly remaining unaffected until early August, its share price has declined by 12% over the year, with the largest drop occurring after its quarterly report on 19 July. In this context, the pressure is mounting among the strikers as Evolution continues to rely on strikebreakers, striving to weaken the strike’s impact and solidarity.
By refusing to negotiate and suppressing workers’ demands, Evolution Gaming embodies the larger struggles faced by labour movements in Georgia. This strike is not just a local labour dispute, it is part of a broader struggle against the neoliberal economic policies that continue to shape Georgia’s workforce. As the workers of Evolution Gaming fight for better wages and working conditions, they represent a challenge to the entrenched powers that seek to maintain Georgia as a country of low wages and compliant workers.
The strike by Evolution Gaming is not an isolated case in the country in terms of labour rights disputes. On the contrary, it appears to be one of the illustrative manifestations of economic policies conducted in Georgia, originating from the neoliberal experiment initiated following the Rose Revolution in 2003 and culminating in a monopolistic setting upon the pivotal sectors of the economy. The prioritisation of privatisation and deregulation at the expense of social welfare is now part of the Georgian Dream’s broader strategy of consolidating political and economic power, sidelining democratic processes and increasing the concentration of power. The precarious conditions of workers, poverty, unemployment, growing inequalities and environmental degradation have become visible in many of the struggles that have taken place across the country.
In terms of labour disputes, it is important to mention the prominent cases such as the successful strike of the Borjomi factory workers in 2021 and the ongoing complex Chiatura conflict, in which the protesters from the Shukruti mine are now facing repression. On the other hand, the privatisation of lands, forests and rivers has given rise to a variety of grassroots local resistance and mobilisations against controversial infrastructure projects, with varying degrees of success in maintaining the status quo. While the Rioni Guardians were able to prevent the construction of the Namakhvani dam and the mobilisation campaign against the hunting resort in Racha were successful, other environmental struggles are still ongoing such as the one for Balda Canyon in Martvili.
The social and environmental struggles, their evolution and repression (some strikers have been attacked by unknown men), can be considered as symptoms of the outcomes of the country’s political economy. The overarching trend can be described as ‘authoritarian neoliberalism’, as conceptualised by Ian Bruff. Initially formulated to capture the decline of European social democracy in the aftermath of 2007, this framework finds itself relevant in analysing the contemporary Georgian dynamics. In contrast to the perception of the state’s growing strength, Ian Bruff posits that the state is, in fact, becoming increasingly vulnerable as it confronts a multitude of forms of grassroots resistance and mounting pressure. In this configuration, collective actions such as strikes and other popular struggles can be viewed as a means of advancing progressive and radical politics.
Solidarities and politicisation through collective actions: strike as a catalyst for change?
The strike by employees of Evolution Gaming represents the first political engagement for many of these young workers, marking their initiation into leftist activism. Compared to their parents who were raised in Soviet Georgia, the current youth has a distinct interpretation of leftist values. Facing directly today’s outcomes of neoliberal policies such as inequalities, social injustices and economic violence, the youth is one of the most precarious groups in the country. This condition, combined with more progressive European values can also be regarded as a factor contributing to the politicisation of the youth towards leftist ideas.
Another aspect of the politicisation of the youth in Georgia is the absence of a political icon. This notably prevents to fall in the polarisation between the two main political parties. Besides, the youth have demonstrated an impressive capacity to mobilise over the past years, opposing the Foreign Agent Law, participating in environmental struggles and nurturing student movements through street actions, and urban protests. From that lens, collective actions have emerged as one of their means of contestation. As a result, the youth is far from being an apolitical social group and on the contrary, have been gaining a sense of agency.
Moreover, solidarities between struggles play a pivotal role both in terms of politicisation and fostering successful outcomes. The cross-movement support from various grassroots movements to the Balda Canyon struggle displays the transactional mobilisation between movements with similar objectives. It also highlights the interconnectedness of struggles, demonstrating how different forms of activism are part of a larger movement to address the same underlying issues. Beyond the transactional aspect, the interdependence of these struggles, framed within the neoliberal paradigm, shows the importance of solidarity in combating marginalisation.
In that sense, the accumulated experience of successful strikes, such as the Borjomi strike or the metro workers strike in 2018, is a strong factor of motivation as expressed by one of the Evolution Gaming protesters “Fortunately we have many examples of victory obtained as a result of a strike, which gives great motivation to each striking employee”. The Evolution Gaming strike, connected to other recent labour actions, can also signal a renewed role for unionism in Georgia. The old Soviet approach to unions as service providers is being sidelined by different approaches provided by independent local unions, which now play a crucial role in organising collective actions, holding authorities accountable, and shedding light in the mainstream media on social issues.
The role of independent trade unions in Georgia, and indeed in the wider region, has been reinforced by their capacity to organise strikes, which remain an old but pivotal tactical tool for exerting pressure. In response to the increasingly authoritarian tendencies of the Georgian Dream, strikes and other collective actions have the potential to serve as a means of improving material conditions and as a vehicle for advocating for structural changes. In light of the regression of democratic processes and the introduction of authoritarian measures, future actions will be more challenging. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the importance of these initiatives, as the pursuit of social justice remains a persistent and ongoing phenomenon.