Sanitation workers to strike again

Agitation starting May 22 to hit cleanliness services

Miffed over non-payment of salaries and non-regularisation of contractual employees, municipal sanitation workers have decided to launch a citywide agitation starting Friday. 

However, North Corporation’s Mayor Ravindra Gupta said on Sunday that if the city government does not issue funds to the civic agency then councillors will stage a dharna outside the Delhi Secretariat.

Last week, the sanitation workers’ unions had called off their decision of going on a strike from May 8 after getting assurance from the municipal commissioner that they would soon be given salaries.

According to the safai karamcharis unions, the sanitation services will be struck  May 22 onwards.

“We have not been getting salaries on time for a long time now, and we haven’t got last month’s salary. So we have decided to go on strike,” said Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Congress President Rajendra Mewati.

Union leaders said the three municipal corporations have been passing the buck on the issue of regularisation of employees. “For the past many years we have been demanding regularisation of contractual employees. But the civic agencies took no heed of our demands,” he added.

The workers’ union are demanding regularisation of employees who were taken on contract after 2006.

The civic agencies blame the city government for the delay in distribution of salaries. 

The city government owes Rs 2,000 crore to the North Corporation, said Gupta.“The Lieutenant Governor has forwarded our demand to chief secretary for necessary action. If the city government doesn’t release funds, then the CM will be gheraoed and we will stage a dharna,” he added.

Gupta said the city government is exploiting local bodies by withholding their share of funds which hampers essential services like sanitation and health. “It seems like a conspiracy to derail the civic system so that services will collapse,” Gupta said.

Last week, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation had met the representatives of ‘Swatantra Mazdoor Sanyukta Morcha’ and assured them that salaries of sanitation workers would be released soon. 

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation requires over Rs 100 crore to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 32,000 employees. 

Even the North Corporation is in the red and it requires Rs 171 crore to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 70,000 employees.