Chennai cleanliness workers resort to badge protest against privatisation move
Workers under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and permanent cleanliness workers of the Corporation are raising their voices against the privatisation of operations in the Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones.
Cleanliness workers wearing badges against privatisation of operations of some of the zones, in Chennai on Saturday
CHENNAI: The cleanliness workers attached to the Chennai Corporation on Saturday wore badges as a sign of protest against the civic body’s move to privatise solid waste management.
Workers under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and permanent cleanliness workers of the Corporation are raising their voices against the privatisation of operations in the Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones. This is the seventh time they have been protesting against the privatisation policy. Women workers who are already facing issues of a high workload due to meagre manpower, struggling with safety concerns and unhygienic toilets, would lose their livelihood altogether with the privatisation, they allege.
Anitha (name changed), a conservancy worker, said that they are protesting in all possible ways to secure a permanent job with the Corporation. "I have been working as a cleanliness worker in the Chennai Corporation for the last 14 years. Yet I am working as a NULM worker on a contract basis. We are struggling to make ends meet. I urge the local body to withdraw the privatisation decision," she said.
The Corporation is making our lives complicated by handing over the contract to a private body, workers lament. The salary extended by the contractor won't be sufficient for workers to run a family amid rising inflation, they rue. "As of now, the temporary NULM workers earn Rs 22,590 per month without PF contribution. The daily earnings of Rs 753 will be increased to Rs 778 from August onwards. However, the Chennai Corporation will hand over the sanitary works to a private company from August 1. The NULM workers will get a salary of less than 15,000 (once coming under the private contractor)," said the Madras Red Flag Union general secretary, P Srinivasalu.
As a sign of opposition to the privatisation of the four zones, over 4,000 cleanliness workers participated in the protest, wearing badges during working hours. We stress the GCC to make the NULM workers permanent. We will be scaling up the protest in the upcoming days, added Srinivasan.
Over thousands of cleanliness workers in Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, and Ambattur zones participated in the Bharat Bandh on Wednesday.
