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“The Chief Minister called us his sisters and mothers. But why does he not meet us now?”
This is the question Mahalakshmi, a sanitation worker with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), poses to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as the sanitation workers’ protest in Chennai entered its eighth day on Thursday, August 27.
Around 300 sanitation workers, most of them women, continued their agitation near the Allikulam court complex after barricades were erected to prevent them from proceeding towards the GCC headquarters at Ripon building on August 26.
The major demands
The workers are seeking a revision in their daily wages from Rs 762 to Rs 832, as well as permanent jobs for contractual sanitation workers.
Other demands include a weekly paid day off, one-year maternity leave for women sanitation workers having a third child, menstrual leave for local body and rural school workers, a food allowance, and office space for the union inside the Corporation building.
The union has also sought withdrawal of cases filed against workers and their leaders during a 2025 agitation.
They are also demanding a direct meeting with Chief Minister Vijay, who holds the Municipal Administration and Water Supply portfolio. The Greater Chennai Corporation falls under the Municipal Administration department.
The workers say they want to place their demands directly before the Chief Minister rather than meeting with officials and ministers.
“We don't have any weekly offs or menstrual leave. We work 365 days a year. We don't have bathroom facilities,” Mahalakshmi said.
‘Are we untouchables?’
The workers say the agitation comes after a prolonged struggle over their employment and working conditions.
“We are the same sanitary workers who protested last year. We have brought about a change of government. Yet our demands have not been met,” said Hashraf Begum, another sanitation worker.
From August 2025, sanitation workers in Chennai had staged a prolonged protest against the GCC’s decision to privatise waste collection. It was called off in January 2026 after talks with the previous DMK government.
“Vijay had met us previously as a party leader last year, but not now after he became Chief Minister. Are we untouchables?” she asked.
Begum also questioned why contractual sanitation workers should be excluded from maternity benefits.
“The government has announced paid maternity leave for up to a year when a woman has a third child. Won't contractual workers have a third child? Around 85% of the workers here are women. Don't make us protest on the streets. Consider us human beings,” she said.
Workers seek Rs 832 daily wage
One of the key demands of the protest is the implementation of a revised daily wage of Rs 832.
In April this year, the Chennai District Collector at the time, Rashmi Siddarth Zagade IAS, had announced the wage revision to Rs 832 from the existing Rs 762. However, the wage revision has not yet been implemented.
The workers say they currently earn around Rs 23,000 a month and that the increase is necessary to cope with the rising cost of living.
“We want the wage revision to Rs 832. How can we manage our lives with just Rs 23,000, given the surging cost of living?” asked Jyoti, a union leader from the Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI), a labour rights union.
She said several women workers were divorced, separated, or had husbands struggling with alcohol addiction, making their income crucial for their families.
“We will protest until our demands are met, even if it takes 100 or 200 days,” Jyoti said.
The workers have also compared their wages with the Rs 25,000 proposed for MLA assistants, arguing that those who have been doing sanitation work for years should not be denied the revised daily wage.
Sumathy, 43, who has been working as a sanitation worker in Ward 105 of Zone 8 in Anna Nagar for five years, said most of her salary goes for medical expenses.
"The dust on the roads has affected my eyes and a significant portion of my salary goes towards medical expenses," she told TNM.
She also spends around Rs 3,000 on medicines for her elderly mother. Her husband is an auto driver.
For L Parthasarathy, 45, who works in Ward 37 of Zone 4 in Tondiarpet, his salary goes towards his children's education, house rent, and electricity bills.
“If the Chief Minister were to announce permanent jobs for contractual workers, it will surely improve my children's future. The government should implement what the District Collector announced,” he said.
Kumar, 46, who works in Ward 36 of Zone 4, said the low wages have pushed him into debt. “This salary makes us borrowers,” he said.
Kumar pays Rs 20,000 towards loans and interest. His wife is a domestic worker, while his daughter and son have dropped out of college and started working to support their family.
Talks with ministers, officials fail
The agitation has continued despite talks between the workers’ union and government representatives.
On August 24, School Education Minister A Rajmohan held talks with representatives of the UUI. They also held discussions with GCC Commissioner GS Sameeran.
The union said several of its demands were considered reasonable, but the government did not agree to the demand for regularisation of contractual workers.
The workers have since maintained that they want to meet the Chief Minister directly.
‘Our demands have not reached the CM’s ears’
K Bharathi, state president of the UUI, said the workers were yet to receive a direct response from the Chief Minister.
“Our demands have not yet reached the Chief Minister's ears. He has not also allocated any time and date for that,” he said.
Bharathi referred to the Chief Minister’s earlier statement that the government would promise and do what was practical, and questioned why the government had not implemented the promised regularisation of contractual workers, including teachers, nurses, and sanitation workers.
“MLAs with five or six cars and staying in bungalows are given additional cars, along with Rs 25,000 for personal assistants,” he said. “Even if we have to wait, we shall do so. But the Chief Minister should at least engage in a conversation with us,” Bharathi added.