The Public Registry Agency refuses to register the Independent Trade Union of Public Servants - Article 78 of the Constitution, - Transparency International Georgia reports.
As stated in the information, in November 2024, representatives of up to 20 different state and public institutions created an initiative group, the goal of which was to establish a trade union of public servants. According to them, the group members included employees of the Presidential Administration of Georgia, Parliament, Constitutional Court, National Bank, Ministry of Economy, various LEPLs within the system of the Ministry of Justice, Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance, several LEPLs of the Ministry of Education and Science, Tbilisi City Hall and City Council, various municipalities, Civil Service Bureau, Legal Aid Service, and other public agencies.
According to Transparency International Georgia, the Independent Trade Union of Public Servants - Article 78 of the Constitution was established in December 2024.
“As the name of the newly created trade union indicates, the reason for its creation was the decision of the de facto government of the Georgian Dream to suspend accession negotiations with the European Union in violation of Article 78 of the Constitution, and the unprecedented repression of civil servants who loudly protested against this decision.
On December 25, 2024, 36 founders of the aforementioned trade union applied to the Public Registry Agency with a request for registration. In addition, all documents required for registration, namely the trade union’s founding agreement and charter, were submitted to the Public Registry.
It is noteworthy that several founders of the trade union are also current and former employees of the Public Registry, who have extensive experience working in this service and know exactly what documentation they should submit for the purpose of registering a trade union.
Exactly similar documentation, which was submitted by the founders to the registration authority, turned out to be quite sufficient for other trade unions registered around the same period (for example, for the Independent Trade Union of Managers, Professional Accountants and Auditors of Georgia).
Despite this, the Public Registry, under the pretext of submitting the minutes of the constituent meeting, suspended the registration proceedings on December 26, 2024. Although the request was fulfilled, the Public Registry repeatedly refused to resume the registration proceedings. On January 28, 2025, the Public Registry Agency made a decision to terminate the registration proceedings.
In order to finally convince itself of the biased, discriminatory and unfriendly attitude of the Public Registry towards the Public Servants’ Union, the Public Servants’ Union submitted a new application to the Public Registry on February 18, 2025, requesting registration. However, the Public Registry once again suspended the registration process. This time, the trade union was denied a name.
It is clear that Georgian Dream is very afraid of the creation of an independent trade union of public servants, because its existence contradicts the goal of the Georgian Dream to create a public service in Georgia that silently executes illegal orders of the government, and is a slave to the political leadership, instead of a politically neutral and professional public service.
The arbitrary decisions of the Public Registry contradict not only the Constitution and legislation of Georgia, but also Georgia’s international obligations, including three International Labor Organization conventions (Conventions Nos. 87, 98, and 151), according to which Georgia is obliged to ensure freedom of trade unions in this country.
That is why yesterday the Independent Trade Union of Public Servants - Article 78 of the Constitution filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization, in the preparation of which, together with the leadership of the trade union, Transparency International - Georgia has also made its contribution.
To date, according to unconfirmed data, approximately 400 people have already been dismissed from the public service”, reads the statement released by the organization.
Transparency International Georgia is actively involved in the process of providing legal assistance to former civil servants.
“To date, we have filed a lawsuit with court on behalf of 11 persons dismissed from civil service; 8 more lawsuits are in the process of being prepared; we have provided consultations to more than 70 persons dismissed from civil service”.
