MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently ordered an interim injunction restraining a private company from ousting 25 sanitary workers and watchmen, who had been working in the Dindigul Government District Headquarters Hospital for more than ten years, until further orders.
Hearing a joint petition filed by the workers, Justice P Velmurugan passed the above interim order and adjourned the case for a month. According to the petitioners, they were engaged as temporary workers in the above hospital based on an agreement made between a private company and the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation for providing manpower. However, they have been constantly battling for minimum wages and basic benefits like ESI, EPF, among others, they alleged. Though the Dindigul assistant commissioner of labour issued an order in March 2024, to disburse minimum wages with arrears and other benefits to them, the said order was not implemented and a case is pending before the high court in this regard, they added.
Meanwhile, due to a change in the recruiting agency, the petitioners claimed they were on the verge of losing their jobs as the new agency was planning to replace them. They requested the court to permit them to continue in service and also direct implementation of the assistant commissioner’s order.