Protests against online gaming company Evolution have gone to extremes in Europe—and are reverberating in the US. Thousands of employees of Evolution, an online gambling company, have been on strike in Tbilisi, Georgia, protesting over pay, allegations of harassment, and unsafe working conditions.
The strike began on July 12 but escalated in August. Initially, the company threatened that a strike would cause it to pull out of the country entirely. However, when striking workers escalated their protest by attempting to block the entrance to the building in mid-August, employees allege that non-uniformed private security people hired by the company beat the strikers.
“They are hiding their identities. They did not care about gender. [I know people] who have bruises, who are struggling to walk,“ says Giorgi Diasamidze, head of the employee union LABOR. Pictures and video shared show apparent bruising and welts from the guards’ aggressive behavior toward workers.
A handful of workers, including Mahare Patashuri, went on a hunger strike. “I can’t believe I am still alive,” Patashuri said. Patashuri was taken to the hospital after 28 days without food.
Evolution spokesperson Carl Linton said that the company “has, and will continue to, work towards a resolution of the dispute within the established process and local law. Evolution firmly supports and respects the workers right to strike within the local legal framework.”
Evolution is reportedly in talks with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to get a license to operate in Las Vegas. Nevada’s local Culinary Workers Union and the Bartenders Union have thrown their support behind the striking workers, urging the Nevada Gaming Commission to reject Evolution’s application if it continues to refuse to treat its employees with respect and provide for decent wages and safe working conditions.