Chiatura was a boomtown in the Soviet years. Brand-new cable cars criss-crossed this manganese-mining town in western Georgia, and each station had 12 workers per shift. After a decade-long hiatus, mining started up here again in the mid-2000s. These days, most shifts have just one worker, like Lali, on the upper hill and Lasha down on the street. They’ve worked on the same ropeway for years.
Now this life is under threat. Under a so-called “special regime” introduced by the international company that runs the mine, roughly 3,200 workers have been temporarily dismissed for four months — Lali and Lasha are two of the “lucky” employees to keep their jobs.
This decision has naturally raised suspicion among Chiatura’s mine workers and trade unions. While Georgian Manganese, the company involved, cites weakening international demand for steel and sufficient stocks of manganese ore to melt and produce for the next few months, most workers fear that the company won’t hire them back in four months time.
