On 97th day, cleanliness workers' stir enters sea

CHENNAI: The Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam on Wednesday announced that sanitation workers protesting against their termination and the privatisation of waste management in the city will stage demonstrations at five locations in Chennai on Saturday (November 8), marking the 100th day of their agitation.

Its state president and High Court advocate K Bharathi said the protests will be held at the Kalaignar Karunanidhi Memorial on Marina Beach, Ripon Building, the Chief Minister's MLA office, the Mayor's ward, and outside the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

He urged the State government to regularise workers who were in service as of July 31, 2025, and ensure that payments due to them are made directly rather than through private contractors.

The ongoing agitation by sanitation workers from Zones 5 and 6 of the GCC entered its 97th day on Wednesday. Around 50 workers from Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones waded into the sea behind the Kannagi statue at Marina Beach in the morning, demanding reinstatement of their jobs directly under the Corporation instead of Chennai Enviro Solutions Private Limited (CESPL).

The workers entered the sea around 11 am, raising slogans and urging senior officials and the Chief Minister to meet them and resolve their demands. The police and fire service personnel later pulled them out of the water, and the workers were forcefully detained after nearly two hours of protest.

"We have been detained 15 times now. The government is not hearing us. Where can we go? That is why we came to Marina," said one of the protesting workers.

The workers, many of whom have been employed for several years as National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) employees, have been holding continuous demonstrations and sit-ins across the city. Union representatives said that about 1,953 contract sanitation workers were terminated earlier this year following the handover of waste management operations to private firms, triggering the prolonged agitation.