Sanitation workers will be holding protests in Chennai from July 1 against the state government’s decision to privatise waste management in zones 5 and 6. The state government has decided to privatise waste management in Royapuram (zone 5) and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar (zone 6), triggering strident opposition from sanitation workers.
The July 1 protest has been called by the Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam (Workers’ Rights Movement), Left Trade Union Congress (LTCU) and the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU)
At present, ten zones under the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) are already managed by the Spain-based Sumeet-Urbasser and Andhra-based Ramky. The GCC will now be handing over waste management in zones 5 and 6 to Ramky after the initial agreement with Sumeet-Urbasser fell through.
At a press conference held on June 27, Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam state president K Bharathi said, “We will conduct protests in front of the state legislature, Ripon Building, and the collectors' office. We will also march to Chief Minister MK Stalin’s house. In 2021, when Stalin was the Leader of Opposition, he wrote to the AIADMK opposing a similar move. Now he is sacrificing 2000 workers, who are mostly from Adi Dravidar, Arunthathiyar and other marginalised communities, to a Hyderabad-based company.”
Pointing out that Stalin had also demanded the regularisation of sanitation workers in his 2021 letter, Bharathi added, “The workers have been retained on a temporary basis by the GCC. One of the DMK’s electoral promises was to regularise government staff after 10 years of service. A government that talks about social justice is being unjust by barring workers from marginalised communities from entering permanent government service.”
Bharathi further highlighted that in 2021, the GCC revised the daily wage from Rs 524 to Rs 687 but that it would be rendered invalid when the workers become employees of the private sector.
Speaking to TNM, LTUC State Vice President Mohan said, “They say Singara Chennai and Dravidian model. They centre workers only for optics. But in reality, they are reducing workers’ wages and destroying their livelihoods for the sake of a private company. When our case against privatisation is still in the courts, workers are asking how can more zones be handed over to a private company.”
Mohan added, “In his 2021 letter, the CM said that justice for workers may be delayed if we had to approach courts and urged the then-government to regularise temporary workers. Our struggle is based on that promise. The DMK has been in power for four years, but they have not kept their promise. This is why we are going to protest on July 1.
Mohan also said that while many sanitation workers are hired on a temporary basis, they are issued GCC uniforms. “They have been working for 10 to 20 years, but they are not given masks, gloves, proper shoes, rakes or other necessary equipment. Many women workers drive the electric waste trucks, and they are forced to spend their own money for repairs. Workers need a support system, but this doesn’t exist.”
Mohan also alleged that the situation would only worsen for workers as private companies falsify records to show that less waste has been collected.
Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam added in a press statement that in zones 4 through 8, where most of the sanitation workers are women, there are no restrooms or changing rooms. “No masks or gloves are provided to a majority of workers in all 15 zones. They also do not receive Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) or Provident Fund (PF) benefits. The workers do not even get a day off in a year, neither on weekends nor on national holidays.”
The statement also says that Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam had filed two writ petitions in the Madras High Court asking for the regularisation of workers in zones 5 and 6 in January this year. The high court had referred the case to a labour court. In turn, the state government had appealed this decision, but the appeal had been dismissed.
“The state government argued that if workers win the case and are regularised, it would cost the state exchequer crores of rupees, and many more workers would approach the courts,” the statement further said.
This is not the first time sanitation workers have opposed privatisation efforts. Earlier in 2023, scores of sanitation workers protested in front of Chennai's Rippon Building after the GCC said that it would be extending privatisation of waste management to Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar (zone 8), Ambattur (zone 7) and Tondiarpet (zone 4).