COIMBATORE: Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) sanitary workers have announced an indefinite strike from April 20 and submitted a formal notice to the municipal authorities on Sunday.
The sanitary workforce comprises of drivers, cleaners, mosquito control workers and other daily wage contract employees. They have raised an eight-point charter of demands to the authorities.
Key demands include, immediate deposit of the Provident Fund (PF) contributions that were deducted from their salaries by a private waste management contractor and to regularise all contract workers that are currently employed.
Earlier, Coimbatore Labour Union Secretary Selvaraj submitted a letter to the CCMC Commissioner, urging the administration to hold talks and resolve the issue within 15 days. However, the workers allege that the corporation has not responded to their issues yet.
In a recent resolution passed by CCMC council, the garbage collection contract was given to a new private firm based in Chennai. Until the new firm takes over the operations, the current contractor has been directed to continue the services for the next two months. However, the corporation has not clarified whether the employees will receive their pending salaries and PF dues.
Citing the corporations’ lack of response, the Union’s General Secretary Balakrishnan and Selvaraj have sent a formal notice, declaring that all the sanitary workers will participate in the strike from 6 am on April 20.
The proposed strike is expected to significantly impact waste management and public sanitation in the city if the demands are not met.