Government inspectors raided on Wednesday a textile factory in Gyumri which halted its operations two weeks ago after its workers protested against meager wages and poor working conditions.
The factory belonging to Sasstex Textile Solutions, a company run by Dutch-Armenian businessman Christian Gelici, was inaugurated in December last year at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“I am convinced that such investment projects will contribute to the economic development of our country,” Pashinian said at the ceremony timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of a catastrophic earthquake that ravaged Armenia’s second largest city.
Gelici told Pashinian at the time that he will expand the factory and have at least 350 workers by next year. Only 120 or so people, most of them women, worked there as of last month.
Many of them claim to have been illegally paid below Armenia’s monthly minimum wage set at 55,000 drams ($115). Various workers interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian service and other media outlets have said that they received only between 16,000 and 37,000 drams for April.
A company manager reportedly claimed that they were underpaid in April because of the poor quality of their output detected by wholesale buyers in Germany. The workers strongly denied that.
They have also complained about outdated equipment used by the company and poor ventilation in their workplaces. Some have also alleged toxic emissions from fabric used in the production operations.
“Christian Gelici treats us like slaves,” one worker charged on May 31.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Dutch-Armenian businessman Christian Gelici (L) inauguate a new textile plant in Gyumri, December 7, 2018.
The factory mainly manufacturing workwear exported to Europe has not been operational since then. Some of its employees have accused the Sasstex management of threatening to fire them for talking to reporters.
Nerses Taschian, a senior Sasstex executive in Gyumri, told the protesting staff on June 3 that the company will offer them in the coming days new employment contracts that will address their concerns. No such contracts have been signed so far.
Taschian on Wednesday accused the protesting employees of lying about their working conditions. “The claims about toxic fabric are lies,” he said.
Gelici, whose company also has textile plants in three other Armenian towns, himself has still not commented on the dispute, avoiding any contact with the media.
The protests have prompted serious concern from local and central government bodies as well as Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan. An ad hoc team of the government’s health and labor inspectors entered the factory on Wednesday to investigate the workers’ complaints. The inspection is due to last until June 21.