THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Corporation's main office on Wednesday saw a tense situation when a section of sanitation workers gathered in protest raising a slew of issues including unscientific redeployment, lack of adequate facilities.
The protest began at around 5.30 am when two of the workers climbed the tree in front of the Corporation's main office and threatened to jump from it. A group of sanitation workers gathered under the tree staging a dharna. The protestors blocked the main entrances of the City Corporation office with bins filled with garbage. The several-hour-long protest continued till the afternoon.
The protest staged by the workers belonging to AITUC raised a slew of issues faced by the sanitation workers including work equipment and safety gear, emergency relief for workers during accidents, separate changing rooms for men and women workers, uniforms, soap, shoes and more.
In response to a High Court order demanding the removal of waste from a dumpsite at Beemapally, which has accumulated tonnes of legacy waste, the civic body has deployed several female sanitation workers to the dumpsite. This has sparked an outrage among the workers who were forced to remove the waste with inadequate facilities. Despite dumpsite remediation being a specialised work, the move of the civic body to use the regular sanitation workers and redeploying them has irked them.
General Secretary of Municipal Corporation Workers Union (AITUC) P S Naidu alleged that women sanitation workers are working in poor conditions. “The civic authorities have issued an order deploying 21 sanitation workers on duty to clear the dumpsite at Bheemapally. Its not a routine work and women workers are having a hard time working in such situation. They are forced to lift heavy sacks filled with waste and load them to the truck. Many of them have expressed difficulties because of poor health,” alleged P S Naidu.