Cleanliness workers protest privatisation, lament job losses

CHENNAI: Following the Greater Chennai Corporation’s (GCC) privatisation of solid waste management (SWM) in the Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones from August 1, hundreds of sanitation workers protested outside Ripon Building on Friday.

The protest erupted after GCC officials informed workers affiliated with the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) on Thursday night that they should cease work. Similarly, morning shift workers arriving at their ward offices to sign in on Friday were sent home.

Workers from the Left Trade Congress Union (LTUC) and Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) union allege the GCC was reneging on promises of permanent employment, instead forcing them into private contracts. “The civic body is responsible for providing us permanent jobs, but now they are forcing us to join a private contractor for 30% less salary. Officials pressured us to join the private contract on Monday morning,” said Sakthivel, an NULM worker from Ward 61.

The protest began at 7:30 am on Friday outside Ripon Building, with workers vowing to continue day and night. Workers shared their distress, with a woman worker stating, “I am the sole breadwinner for my family. I joined 10 years ago for Rs 8,000. Until last month, I earned Rs 23,000. Now I have to find another job to support my family."

The issue was previously raised in the GCC’s monthly council meeting on Wednesday for which Deputy Mayor M Magesh Kumaar responded that workers would be reassigned to other departments within the Corporation.

However, this assurance did not extend to NULM workers. Meanwhile, a member of the Madras Red Flag Union, staged a sit-in protest at Ripon Building. P Srinivasalu, general secretary of the union, clarified the situation: “While the civic body assured that cleanliness workers would be placed in other departments, NULM workers have effectively been sacked. They are now faced with either joining the private contractor or seeking entirely new jobs.”