Chennai: 500 cleanliness workers stir seeking 3rd round of talks on job security

CHENNAI: Around 500 cleanliness workers affiliated with the Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) staged a protest at the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) Ambattur zonal office on Saturday, demanding job security, timely salary payments and the reopening of completed resting pods.

The workers, employed in Tondiarpet, Ambattur and Anna Nagar zones, urged the state government to convene the promised third round of talks with UUI president K Bharathi on job regularisation.

Union members said ministers N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, CTR Nirmal Kumar and A Rajmohan met the workers on September 4 and promised to hold the third round of talks on October 3. However, the meeting did not take place as scheduled.

On October 6, when the union submitted its demands to GCC commissioner GS Sameeran, he informed UUI secretary K Suresh that a fresh date for the meeting would be announced later. The union said no date had been fixed so far.

The workers also demanded that their monthly salaries be credited by the fifth of every month, stating that delays had made it difficult for them to pay rent on time. They further urged the corporation to hand over the keys to completed resting pods and open them for workers' use at the earliest.