A BP pipeline union was formed in 2015 after the company refused to offer to its Georgian workers the same terms and conditions applied to other BP workers in the neighboring countries of Azerbaijan and Turkey. After the creation of the trade union, BP and HRRA management continuously discouraged the workers’ affiliation, including with unlawful behaviour. The country manager, Chris Schlueter, sent an email to all the workers inviting them to refrain from unionising and the company organised “friendly talks” with the sole aim of creating an anti-union climate and threatening workers in a subtle way. As a result of this anti-union campaign by BP and HRRA, the majority of members left the union, bringing the number of affiliates down from 30 to 10.
The anti-union behaviour of the enterprise continued with a disciplinary action resulting in a “reorganisation” dismissal against the deputy chair of the pipeline union, Mr. Vakhtang Pirmisashvili. Mr. Pirmisashvili presented his complaint at a civil court after a mediation attempt by the Labour Ministry failed. It is the first time that a Georgian court has accepted jurisdiction to examine a case regarding the legitimacy of a dismissal on discrimination grounds because of trade union activity.