MCG sanitation workers warn of intensifying stir if demands not fulfilled

Workers from across Haryana will hold pen-down strikes on December 14 and 15 to press their demand on retrenched employees

The striking sanitation workers of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Monday warned that they will intensify their protests if their demands are not met and the 3,480 retrenched employees are taken back under the contract system. They even threatened to launch a statewide agitation in the coming weeks, said the leaders of Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh on Monday.

Sanitation workers’ union leaders address a press conference on Monday. (HT Photo)

The workers from across Haryana will hold pen-down strikes on December 14 and 15 to press their demand on retrenched employees. They also wanted that the 24-point demands, which were discussed with the authorities, should be implemented, leaders of the Sangh’s Gurugram wing said.

MCG workers have been on strike for the last 60 days demanding regularisation of jobs, payment of back pay and other dues. The workers said that they were forced to go on strike after MCG ended the contract system under which they used to get a salary of ₹15,000 under the DC rate, and instead were asked to work in the operations and maintenance departments under different set of conditions, whereby their salary was reduced to ₹10,400.

Following the strike, heaps of garbage and construction waste had littered the city.

Last week, MCG launched a special sanitation drive in which 52 teams were made operational and mobilised with earthmovers and tractor-trolleys to clear the garbage. MCG officials said that over 5,000 tonnes of waste was removed from the city. Now, the situation has improved with garbage being removed regularly.

Naresh Kumar Shastri, president of Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, said that the government should accept the workers’ demands, and should also take back the order of ‘no-work, no-pay’ as it violated their fundamental rights. “Barring essential services, sanitation employees of 60 municipal bodies across Haryana will hold a pen-down strike to protest against the government,” he said.

The striking workers also said that Sarv Haryana Karamchari Sangh, a union of government employees, has also decided to support the protest from February 5.

Basant Kumar, district president of Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, said that there has been no regular recruitment of sanitation and sewer workers in the last 26 years. “The workers are exploited by contractors and are paid very less, for which they are forced to live in poor conditions. We want the government to accept our demands,” he said, adding that they will be forced to intensify the stir if their demands are not fulfilled.

A senior MCG official said that they were engaged in removing garbage from across the city, and the agency has repeatedly asked the workers to resume work. “We are keeping a watch on the situation and ensuring that sanitation work does not suffer,” he said.