CHENNAI: Twelve sanitation workers, who were among the 13 left out when the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) reinstated around 1,400 workers earlier this year, were reinducted on Thursday as the ongoing protest entered the eighth day.
GCC commissioner GS Sameeran said that orders were issued to reinstate 12 workers and the process is under way to reinstate the 13th worker, as the civic body has requested for some details.
The reinstatement fulfils one of the workers’ long-pending demands. However, they said the protest would continue until their demand for job regularisation is met and they are granted a meeting with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. Over 300 workers led by the Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) marched from Victoria Public Hall to Ripon Buildings between 4 pm and 6 pm, blowing whistles to draw the chief minister’s attention to their demands.
“As the CM has a liking for whistles, we wanted to protest and ask if he is able to hear us,” said K Suresh, state secretary of the Left Trade Union Congress.
Following last year’s agitation against the outsourcing of solid waste management in two GCC zones, around 1,400 workers were taken back into service in February, while 13 were left out.
Their reinstatement had remained one of the demands raised by the workers, and the GCC had assured the union earlier this week that they would be taken back.
UUI president K Bharathi said many of the sanitation workers had been engaged in conservancy work for around 25 years.
“Most are women and many are single parents too. They work continuously without weekly offs, remove dead animals and are exposed to biomedical waste. They deserve regularisation,” he said.
The workers are also demanding a daily wage of `832, as fixed by the Chennai collector, instead of the `761 they currently receive. Other demands include a paid weekly holiday, toilet facilities at ward offices and paid maternity leave.
The union said the agitation would be intensified in the coming days if the remaining demands were not addressed.