Oil Workers Hold Strike At Georgian Black Sea Terminal

Workers at the oil terminal in Georgia's Black Sea port city of Kulevi have gone on strike, demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

Georgia's United Trade Unions organization released a statement on December 23 that said striking workers want the same pay as foreign workers at the Kulevi terminal receive.

The workers also want seven dismissed employees to be reinstated.

It was the third straight day some 200 employees have refused to work at the terminal.

The State Oil Corporation of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) owns the Kulevi terminal and has spent some $350 million modernizing and upgrading the facility to load Azerbaijani oil onto tankers for transport across the Black Sea.

Kulevi workers held a "warning" strike some six weeks ago and have since formed a union to press their demands.

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS