Who documents labour rights violations in Georgia? Alongside the Labour Inspection Service and the Public Defender, independent unions and civil society organisations — the Solidarity Network, the New Confederation of Independent Unions, the Georgia Fair Labor Platform and others — have become important sources of evidence and organisation. This brief reviews what they have documented and why their role matters. (An earlier version of this page cited figures from a Solidarity Network “annual report” that GILS could not locate; it has been replaced with documented sources.)
Key Points
- The Solidarity Network is an independent health and service-sector union, mostly led by women, organising cleaners, nurses, paramedics, domestic, transport and shop workers; in January 2022 it organised a strike of 400 workers (AWID, n.d.).
- On 20 January 2020, three independent unions — Ertoba 2013, the Social Workers’ Union and the Solidarity Network — founded the New Confederation of Independent Unions (Publika, n.d.). Unlike GTUC, it is not a member of the Tripartite Commission (FES, n.d.).
- The Georgia Fair Labor Platform, a coalition of civil society organisations and independent unions, obtained and published Labour Inspectorate reports through freedom of information requests and won a challenge to their redaction in 2023 (HRW, 2023); delivery couriers’ strikes in 2021 were documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW, 2021).
- The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association described 2025 as a year of restricted freedoms, with a significant deterioration in freedom of association (GYLA, via JAMnews, 2026).
- In 2025 the Labour Inspection Service carried out 7,111 inspections, including 233 on anti-discrimination, and issued 62 administrative offence reports under the Law on Labour Migration (Parliament of Georgia, 2026).
1. Why Independent Documentation Matters
Official statistics capture labour market outcomes, and the Labour Inspection Service records inspections and accidents. But many violations — unpaid overtime, unilateral pay cuts, dismissal of union activists — are reported first by workers and their organisations. Since GTUC is the only union confederation in the Tripartite Commission (FES, n.d.), independent unions and civil society play a growing role in bringing such cases to light.
2. What Has Been Documented
| Organisation | Focus | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Solidarity Network | Health, service and care workers | 400-worker strike (January 2022); research on service-sector wages |
| New Confederation of Independent Unions | Unions outside GTUC | Founded 20 January 2020 by Ertoba 2013, the Social Workers’ Union and the Solidarity Network |
| Georgia Fair Labor Platform | Labour rights monitoring | Published Labour Inspectorate reports and won a 2023 challenge to their redaction (its website is no longer online) |
| GYLA | Human rights | 2025 report on restricted freedoms, including freedom of association |
Sources: AWID (n.d.); Solidarity Network (n.d.); Publika (n.d.); FES (n.d.); HRW (2021, 2023); GYLA via JAMnews (2026).
3. Analysis
Filling gaps in official data
Independent organisations document sectors that official sources cover poorly: health and care work, the service sector and platform work. Their work has also improved transparency — for example, the Georgia Fair Labor Platform’s successful challenge to the Labour Inspectorate’s 2023 decision to redact employers’ names from inspection reports (HRW, 2023).
Limits
Documentation by advocacy organisations is not systematic and may focus on the most visible disputes. It complements, but cannot replace, comprehensive official data on violations, inspections and sanctions.
4. Conclusion
A full picture of labour rights in Georgia requires both official data and independent documentation. Recognising independent unions in social dialogue, protecting freedom of association, and publishing complete inspection data would strengthen both.
GILS Recommendations
- Publish complete inspection and sanction data, including by sector and type of violation.
- Broaden social dialogue to include representative independent unions.
- Protect freedom of association, including protection against retaliation for union activity.
- Support systematic violation reporting, such as a public complaints dashboard at the Labour Inspection Service.
GILS Position
Evidence on labour rights should come from many sources. GILS supports open data from the state and protection for the organisations that document violations on the ground.
References
- Publika (n.d.). Two years since the historic strike [in Georgian]. publika.ge
- Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (n.d.). Social Dialogue in Georgia. FES South Caucasus. fes.de
- Human Rights Watch (2021). App-Based Jobs Emerge as Battleground for Workplace Safety in Georgia. 20 April 2021. hrw.org
- AWID (n.d.). Meet the Solidarity Network (feature on feminist unions). awid.org
- Solidarity Network – Workers’ Center (n.d.). About. patreon.com/solnet
- Human Rights Watch (2023). A Victory for Labor Rights and Transparency in Georgia. hrw.org
- JAMnews (2026). GYLA report on the human rights situation in Georgia in 2025 (in Russian). jam-news.net
- Parliament of Georgia (2026). Economic Policy Committee heard report of the Head of the Labour Inspection Service. parliament.ge
Suggested citation: GILS Research Team (2026). Who Documents Labour Rights Violations in Georgia? GILS Brief. Editor: G. Pkhakadze. Georgian Institute of Labour Studies, Tbilisi. labour.edu.ge
GILS analyses are prepared with AI-assisted drafting. All figures and claims are verified against the cited primary sources and reviewed under the responsibility of the Editor.