For over a month, thousands of employees of Evolution, an online gambling company, have been on strike in Tbilisi, Georgia, protesting wages, allegations of harassment and unsafe working conditions.
The strike began on July 12 but escalated in August. Giorgi Diasamidze, head of the LABOR union, said the company initially threatened that a strike would lead to its complete withdrawal from the country. (The company cut 1,000 jobs after the strike was announced.) But when striking workers escalated their protest by attempting to block the entrance to the building in mid-August, Diasamidze and workers who spoke to WIRED allege that non-uniform private security guards hired by the company beat the strikers.
“They hide their identity. They didn't care about gender. [I know people] who have bruises, who have difficulty walking,” Diasamidze said. Photos and videos shared with WIRED show clear bruises and welts from the guards’ aggressive behavior toward workers, and one guard forcibly pulling a worker off a bench.
A handful of workers, including Mahare Patashuri, went on hunger strike. “I can’t believe I’m alive,” Patashuri told WIRED in August. Last week, Patashuri was hospitalized after going 28 days without food.
Evolution spokesman Carl Linton said in a written statement that the company “has worked to resolve the dispute within the established process and local law, and will continue to do so. Evolution supports and respects the right of employees to strike within the local legal framework.”
“The union’s decision to illegally block the entrances for working employees violates their right under Georgian law,” he continued. “We have faced challenges in maintaining full operational capacity. Since the blockade has continued, disruptions have forced us to review our presence in Georgia, including layoffs. This review was not caused by the strike itself, but as a direct result of the union’s illegal actions.”
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Evolution is reportedly in talks with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to obtain a license to operate in Las Vegas, the most valuable gaming market in the US. (The company declined to comment on these talks.)
While the strikes continue to draw attention locally and in Sweden, where the company is based, the company appears relatively unaffected. Even as workers hope their concerns will be taken into consideration by U.S. regulators.
Evolution holds licenses to operate in a handful of U.S. states and several European countries. But Nevada would be a particular coup: the state is set to pull in more than $15 billion in gambling revenue in 2023 alone. Earlier this year, Evolution acquired table games provider Galaxy Gaming, through which it is applying for a license to operate in Las Vegas.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick said the licensing process is confidential and declined to comment further when contacted by WIRED about Evolution's application.
The Nevada Culinary Workers Union and the Bartenders Union, which collectively represent some 60,000 casino workers in Las Vegas and Reno, have voiced their support for the striking employees. A representative for the culinary union shared the group's joint public statement, which “calls on the Nevada Gaming Commission to deny Evolution's application if it continues to refuse to treat its employees with respect and provide decent wages and safe working conditions.”
