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Around 13 sanitation workers in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka nagar zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) were detained by the police after they started a hunger strike at Allikulam in central Chennai on Tuesday, September 9, against the privatisation of waste collection.
This is the second time in two days that the workers are being detained for launching hunger strikes. On September 8, a hunger strike was held at the home of a worker in Kurukkupettai. The hunger strike saw participation by 13 workers while around 200 workers gathered in support.
A sanitation worker said police entered the house to arrest them. They were taken to three locations in the Thiruvottiyur and Ambattur zones and were detained till midnight and were let out only around 1 am in the night. “It was quite far away from our homes and we couldn’t get public transport to reach our homes,” the worker said.
The 13 protestors who gathered in Allikulam in Chennai on Tuesday morning were arrested by the Periyamet police.
The protesters are seeking the withdrawal of privatisation, permanent jobs, withdrawal of cases filed against lawyers and activists for taking part in a protest on August 14 and legal action against police officers who used violence against detained workers on August 13. They are also seeking removal of a gag order on Uzhaipor Urumai Iyakkam leader K Bharathi and other union leaders.
The Madras High Court on August 20, refused to quash the resolution to privatise sanitation work but said the GCC could not lower the workers’ pay.