Action on contractor assured, sanitary staff in Madurai end stir

As hundreds of sanitation workers and garbage collection vehicle drivers went on strike, garbage collection work was affected in the city.

Sanitation workers in Madurai representing all unions have been on strike since Monday demanding the fulfillment of various demands. Today, a woman worker was seen participating in the protest while feeding breakfast to child. Photo | Express / K K Sundar

MADURAI: Sanitation workers who began an indefinite protest on Monday alleging ill treatment by a contractor, withdrew their protest on Tuesday after officials agreed to take action into their demands.

Members of trade unions CITU, LPF and LLF alleged that the contractor was not treating the workers properly. M Balasubramanian, general secretary of CITU said, "The contractor is ill treating the workers. Demanding action against him, we have been staging a series of protests but no action was taken."

He added that officials have assured to take action against the contractor and to look into their other demands that include allowing sanitation workers to give attendance once in a day instead of twice.

Sanitation workers in Madurai representing all unions have been staging a protest since Monday pressing for various demands. As a result garbage in many parts of the city has not been collected leading to overflowing bins and waste scattered on the streets. Residents living nearby are suffering due to the foul smell caused by the accumulated garbage.Photo | Express / K K Sundar

As hundreds of sanitation workers and garbage collection vehicle drivers went on strike, garbage collection work was affected in the city. "The garbage bins remain uncleared in several residential areas, leaving the bins to be filled and a large amount of waste was seen spilled around in the roads causing sanitation issues." said M Murugesan, a resident.

According to the city health department officials, the city corporation deployed 18 additional drivers to operate the compactor bin collection vehicle in the city. and also tractors and backhoe loaders have been allotted to all five zones for carrying out cleaning works in the city on Tuesday.