CHENNAI: Sanitary workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) staged a protest on Tuesday opposing the alleged usage of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) for waste collection, instead of battery operated vehicles that are currently in use.
LCVs were originally deployed for collecting waste from high-volume dumping sites but its use is being gradually expanded to other areas, including waste collection, workers said.
Protesters said using LCVs increase their workload, as they are forced to manually carry large waste bins to the vehicle since the vehicle cannot reach every house in narrow lanes.
P Srinivasalu, general secretary of the Chennai Corporation Red Flag Union, criticised the shift, referencing the failure of previous vehicle transitions like battery-operated vehicles, which suffered losses due to battery theft and poor maintenance.
In addition, the protesters demanded reinstatement of the old pension scheme, release of withheld benefits such as leave surrender system and dearness allowance, along with regularising contract-based sanitary workers.
Help desk for workers
GCC Mayor R Priya inaugurated help desks for sanitation workers across all 15 GCC zones, to ease access to the welfare schemes provided by the Tamil Nadu Sanitation Welfare Board. The mayor distributed identity cards and scheme booklets to registered workers at the Anna Nagar zonal office. Eligible members can avail assistance for accidents, natural deaths, funerals, education, marriage, maternity, and more.