NAGAPATTINAM: A total of 188 sanitation workers employed on a contract basis with Nagapattinam municipality called off their three-day strike on Sunday after the private contractor announced that their wages would be increased by Rs 50 per day from December. The workers had sought wages of Rs 600 per day, as per a GO issued by the district collector earlier in July.
The workers have been protesting since the past three days demanding an increase in their wages along with ESI cards and salary slips. Sanitary workers and 33 drivers under a private contractual agency, Southern Solid Waste Management Service (SSWMS) along with municipal supervision, mostly belonging to the Scheduled Caste communities from Ambedkar Nagar, Amirdha Nagar, Vandipettai, Kattunayakan Theru, and Marunthukothala Theru, work from 5.30 am till 3 pm.
They segregate the waste into degradable and non-degradable waste, with equipment provided to them once in 15 days. The contract agency deducts Rs 120 from the daily wages of the workers for ESI and PF benefits, but workers allege that they lack ESI cards and salary slips. Demanding a rise in their salaries as per the GO's revised daily wage for sanitation workers to Rs 600 in July this year, the workers demonstrated a protest for three consecutive days until Sunday.
They also urged the contractor to provide transparency in ESI and PF deductions. The protest was called off on Sunday after the contract agency SSWMS promised an increase of Rs 50 in their daily wages, with effect from December. The contractor also promised that the agency will make the ESI and PF details available within 15 days, and an advance of Rs 7,000 will be given to the workers before Deepavali. K Venkatesan, town secretary of CPI(M), who protested with the workers, said, "We had to accept the contractor's negotiations for now because the town will be ruined if the workers don't resume their work."
Anjammal (name changed), a 55-year-old sanitary worker under contract, earns a meagre Rs 350 as a daily wage. She struggles to take care of her disabled daughter and 19-year-old son. Anjammal, who is the lone breadwinner of the family, is one of 188 contract sanitary workers who receive a meagre wage without proper salary slips, appropriate leave facilities, or safety insurance.
"With just Rs 10, 500 a month, I couldn't afford to get my son into a college," said Anjammal, adding that she is also not able to afford the required medical needs for her daughter. "We work for seven days with only two days of leave per month. On Sundays, we are allowed to leave three hours earlier, which is considered our day off. If we take a day off on any other day, we don't get paid for the day," a worker said.
Citing the slow-paced salary increments, another worker said, "I have been working for the past 17 years cleaning the streets. My first monthly salary was Rs 2,200, and now it has slowly crawled to Rs 10,500."
