CHENNAI: Minister PK Sekarbabu and GCC Mayor R Priya met the protesting sanitary workers for the first time after they restarted protests after a mass detention from outside Ripon buildings, on Monday.
They were promised to be reabsorbed into the city corporation workforce with their last-drawn wages, before January 30.
With this, the protesters ended their 57-day hunger strike and a 165-day-long protest.
Official sources said that the workers, through self-help groups, will be appointed as sanitary workers for vacancies in the two corporation-handled zones and the remaining for other similar roles under the corporation.
While Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru was absent during the announcement, the Minister clarified to TNIE that HR&CE Minister Sekarbabu made the announcement only after consultations with him.
"Since I was in Tiruchy on Monday for party conference preparation, I had asked Sekarbabu to address the workers. The announcement was made as per the Chief Minister M K Stalin's directive." He confirmed and added that the workers will be reinstated as self-help group workers under GCC as they were on July 31.
Addressing the workers, Sekarbabu said, "For the past week, the sanitary workers' protest and their demands have been discussed with the government. We are happy to announce that all protesting workers will be reinstated into the civic body by the end of January. We hope this announcement brings happiness to the workers."
He added that since the Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) had requested reinstatement before January 20, efforts would be made to meet that deadline.
Meanwhile, GCC Deputy Mayor Magesh Kumaar M told TNIE that the corporation had sought a list of the protesting workers.
"Once the list is received, it will be reviewed and verified to confirm whether the workers had previously worked under the GCC. They will then be re-employed under the GCC through the self-help groups, as was done earlier," he said.
He added that the workers would be accommodated in similar conservancy roles in zones where the GCC continues to handle solid waste management, where vacancies exist, including at Tondiarpet, Anna Nagar, and Ambattur zones, which together cover 42 divisions.
"If some workers cannot be accommodated there, they will be redirected to other GCC jobs based on vacancy and requirement," he said.
Speaking to TNIE, UUI president K Bharathi said, "Since the case against outsourcing and our demand for job regularisation is before the court, we will continue our legal fight and also raise the issue publicly."
He said that around 1,400 workers, led by UUI, had been protesting for job reinstatement and expressed hope that all of them would be provided employment.
The protest against the privatisation of solid waste management operations and the demand for direct employment under the Greater Chennai Corporation began in early August. Since then, several sanitary workers have been detained during multiple protests.
A major crackdown occurred on August 13, when nearly 1,000 workers were detained in the middle of the night after staging a 13-day protest outside the Ripon Building.
A total of 12 workers had participated in the indefinite hunger strike for the past 57 days, during which 11 workers fell ill. The hunger strike formally ended on Monday when the fast was broken by S Lakshmi after receiving juice from the minister.