Over 300 Employees of Triangle Construction Materials Market Have Launched a Strike

Today, on October 19, a tense situation has unfolded in Yerevan. Since 08:00, over 250 employees of the Triangle Construction Materials Market, located in the Shengavit administrative district near the well-known former Vagrants' Statue, have gathered near the main entrance in protest, demanding clarification from the management regarding the recent decision to raise monthly rent by 40-50 percent in these harsh social conditions.

In an interview with photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, the participants of the protest expressed, “We have been surviving in this market for over 15 years at the cost of our health. There are employees who have been working here for more than 10 years. We have made regular payments and haven’t hidden taxes like others. There have been even months where we have not made any profit, but we’ve decided to cut back on our children's needs to pay our loans, so that the seven-headed monster of fate does not come and suffocate us. A few months ago, the rent was increased to 60,000-70,000 AMD for different pavilions. We reluctantly accepted that drastic increase, thinking that with the Velvet Revolution, the management would manifest goodwill and instead of raising rents, would lower them. But now we see that instead of alleviating, they are informing us for the last two days that rent will increase by more than 40 percent.

Now, if we say ‘enough is enough’, they will respond, 'that’s what they said.' We want to believe that the government is not aware of this price increase. If the government, led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, is informed, we are confident that the issue will be resolved in favor of the employees here, many of whom do not want to emigrate and want to contribute to the country’s development. But if certain individuals intend to enrich themselves at our expense, then only Mr. Pashinyan can prevent that.

The management has given us two days until Tuesday: either they will raise the rent or they won’t. We know this is the fourth time they are attempting such a measure. They think if it worked three times, it will work on the fourth as well. Let alone the fact that there are no basic conditions, yet for the sake of our families, we have adjusted. We even pay 50 AMD per kilowatt for electricity on top of our other payments, including to the security guards. We will not be working for three days, and this is a warning protest. If our issue is not resolved by Tuesday, which is just, then we will take our families and go to the government,” they concluded.