VIJAYAWADA: Municipal workers under the banner of AP Municipal Employees JAC took out a procession from Tummalapalli Kalakshetram here on Tuesday, demanding that Telugu Desam Government scrap government order (GO) No. 279, promulgated by the Department of Municipal Administration under 35 municipalities in the State.
Major trade unions like AITUC, CITU, YSRTUC, INTUC and AICCTU backed the procession which passed through Kaleswara Rao Market and culminated into a meeting at Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) office. Addressing the gathering at the protest camp, CPM State leader Ch Babu Rao said that GO No. 279 would eventually lead to the displacement of the workers.
“The contractors will cut down man power and make limited men work, thus saving big bucks. The workers will not be paid as per the standards. The big corporates will only exploit the workers’ capabilities,” said Babu Rao. Around 40,000 outsourcing workers are rendering their services in the municipal department.
Since last decade, majority of the sanitation workers have played a pivotal role in the beautification works across the State. Rao further alleged that no measures were taken by the State government in recruiting and regularizing the service of the workers, even after the retirement of the permanent employees.
AP Municipal Employees Union State leader M David alleged that the government issued the GO aimed at terminating the services of DWCRA groups in local bodies and handover the sanitation contracts to Telugu Desam leaders. “Majority of the municipal workers come from weaker sections. The GO will affect job security and hit their livelihood. The municipal workers’ jobs are at risk with the government’s plan to privatize the services in the local bodies,” added M David.
INTUC State leader Venkata Subbaiah said “Majority of the sanitation workers are deprived of housing facilities. The State Government should address the genuine demands of the JAC including health cards, GPF accounts for permanent employees and a scale of `15,432 per month and DA to outsourced and contract employees.”