GCC workers firm on Rs 23k wage demand, resist privatisation

CHENNAI: Holding firm on their demand for a monthly wage of Rs 23,000 and continuation under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) contract with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) instead of a private contractor, nearly 2,000 sanitation workers continued their protest for the ninth day on Saturday, despite five rounds of talks with civic officials.

The latest discussion with Minister PK Sekarbabu, Mayor R Priya and GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran is continuing late into Saturday night after their four rounds of talks ended with mere assurances that their demands would be taken to the government.

The workers resorted to protest on August 1, after the Corporation instructed the NULM workers in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones to join the private contractor. But the workers opposed the moves, as it would mean that they would get reduced wages of Rs 16,000 after deduction for PF and ESI, and their longstanding demand for job regularisation would not be fulfilled.

The workers’ case for regularisation is pending before the labour court in Chennai, said K Suresh, the State secretary of Left Trade Union Centre (LTUC), which is leading the protest. He also alleged that GCC councillors were making threatening calls to pressure workers into joining work as the private firm’s staff.

“We will not withdraw until our demands are met," he said.

After the meeting with workers on Saturday, HR&CE Minister Sekarbabu said the ruling DMK did not make any promise in the 2021 election manifesto to regularise the cleanliness workers.

According to Suresh, workers had earlier secured a daily wage of Rs 753 after a prolonged struggle. “With the Assembly elections approaching, the move to privatise the solid waste management in the two zones, disregarding the plight of the workers, will not be received well by the voters,” he said, reiterating that the workers were ready to work to prevent garbage from piling up in the city.

In a press release, GCC said it had adopted a privatisation model in Solid Waste Management (SWM) to improve service quality and safeguard employee welfare. Since 2020, 10 of 15 zones and three wards in the Ambattur zone have been privatised. Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones were handed over to Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd on July 21.

Of 3,809 sanitation posts under the contractor, 1,770 have been filled, with the remaining 2,039 allotted to temporary sanitation workers from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) — 975 in Royapuram and 1,059 in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar. The data from the Corporation showed that 17,147 metric tonnes of garbage were removed from the two zones between July 21 and August 7.