Conservancy workers protest over non-payment of salaries, safety gear

L Sundarrajan, President of Chennai Corporation Red Flag Union, said that in Zone 6, the temporary staff had not been paid salaries for the past two months. “The temporary staff under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) scheme, who work on daily wages, have not been paid their salaries for May and June. 

The salary for April was given only in July. The staff, who have completed 10 years or 20 years of service, have not been granted the selection grade or special grade respectively, which allows them to get increments. The General Provident Fund (GPF) is our savings but the Corporation has not released it for months now,” he said. 

Sundarrajan also added that many of the conservancy staff were not provided with proper equipment for their work. “The conservancy staff are not given gloves or other safety equipment and also materials such as brooms or bleaching powder required for the work. In addition, the Corporation is planning to privatise the collection and transfer of municipal solid waste in certain zones. 

We don’t want this to happen, as it will affect the livelihoods of countless conservancy workers,” he said. P Sekhar, a Corporation staff in Division 65, had taken voluntary retirement in February 2016, after 25 years of service. He had thought that after he got his dues, he would be able to pay off his loans. However, the opposite occurred, as even a year later, his dues haven’t been paid. 

“Without a salary or access to dues, I have tough time managing the expenses. I have approached the officials many a time but they have never given an appropriate answer,” he said. The conservancy staff, in the recent public hearing too, made a representation that salaries were not paid. To make their point, a larger protest will be organised on July 7.