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Despite a police clampdown, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) sanitation workers remain steadfast in their protest against the government’s decision to privatise solid waste management in Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, vowing to continue until the move is rolled back.
On the night of August 13, police descended on the demonstration outside the Ripon Building, where workers had been holding out for 13 days. Nearly 1,000 of them were rounded up, taken to community centres across the city. The protesters alleged that they were physically assaulted and their phones were confiscated.
The crackdown followed a Madras High Court order directing that the protest be shifted to a designated site citing inconvenience to the public owing to traffic jams.
“They hit us while forcing us into the buses. My hands swelled up and had to be treated. But we will continue protesting until our demands are met,” Balaji, a sanitation worker from Ward 69 in Zone 6, told TNM.
Nalini, from Zone 5, recalled the physical toll of the arrests. “Some of us were suffocated during the arrest. We were released yesterday, but the protest will go on,” she said.
The sanitation workers who were employed under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) had been protesting in front of the Ripon Building, the headquarters of the GCC, demanding a reversal of the civic body’s decision to privatise solid waste management in zones 5 and 6.
Under the NULM scheme, they earn about Rs 23,000 per month. But after privatisation their wages could reduce to Rs 15,000. While private sector workers are entitled to Provident Fund (PF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI), protestors argue that take-home pay is significantly lower, making it hard to cover basic living costs. The workers have also demanded the regularisation of jobs and basic labour rights.
The workers protest are backed by several trade unions, including the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Left Trade Union Congress (LTUC), Labour Progressive Union (LPU), and Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam (Workers’ Right Movement).
AICCTU has now filed a writ petition, seeking permission to stage the protest at Rajarathinam Stadium or Allikulam. “We will not leave until the government gives us assurance on our demands,” said R Mohan, state deputy president of the AICCTU.
The GCC has stated that workers who return to duty by August 31 will be absorbed into the new system, which it says will provide better benefits after operations are transferred to private contractors.
On August 14, the Tamil Nadu cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin, approved a welfare package for sanitation workers, promising free breakfast, higher life insurance cover, expanded health schemes, scholarships for their children, and 30,000 new housing units over the next three years.
The protesters, however, say the new measures do not address their core demand on privatisation in the two zones. “Announcing welfare measures for us is not an issue. But we can manage our livelihood if the government doesn’t cut down our wages by privatising the zones. They think we will return to work because of these announcements,” said a protesting sanitation worker.
