CHENNAI: Only a handful of Metro Water temporary employees continued to protest on Wednesday. The strength of the protesters dropped from 1,800 on day one to about 20 on day 10. They have been staging a demonstration in front of Metro Water head office at Pattinapakkam, demanding permanent employment. The protesters also said they have not even received April month’s salary.
The board has been claiming that even temporary employees are treated well. “Where are our salaries,” questioned Santhosh Nathan, a protester. Due to the salary issue, most of the protesters have gone back to work. “When we went back, the contractor asked us to sign a document saying we will not return to the protest site.
Only after that, we were allowed to rejoin,” said Kamal, who protested for a week before returning to work. When contacted, Metro Water officials said nothing can be done about it as they have been contract employees for many years, and a system like this cannot be scrapped overnight.
“We will take into account the problems faced by employees and try to address them. But, they will continue to remain on contract,” said the official.