Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The employees of Reddy Company, which is responsible for garbage waste collection in the city, have resorted to a protest demanding minimum wages and other benefits. The workers issued a warning to halt the work from Monday night (December 16). Prior to this, they had also staged a sit-in protest at the municipal corporation headquarters.
Meanwhile, the agitation has placed the administration in a state of crisis. Officials are expected to hold discussions with the workers on Thursday or Friday to find a resolution.
The entire responsibility of garbage waste collection from different parts in the city has been assigned to the Hyderabad-based Reddy Company by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC). Workers have been employed by the company for the past six years.
Earlier as well, workers had frequently raised demands for minimum wage, but now their protest has intensified. On Wednesday, workers submitted a statement to the administration stating that drivers, sanitation workers, supervisors, and zonal workers employed through the contractor company are engaged in door-to-door waste collection.
According to the notification issued by the State Government's Urban Development Department on February 24, 2015, municipal contractors are ordered to provide minimum wages and other benefits to contractual workers employed through them. However, Reddy Company is not complying with this order.
Through a memorandum, the workers' delegation mentions that from midnight on December 16, they will go on leave en masse for five days. The workers, including Hakeem Shaikh, Ajay Janrao, Nitin Bhale, Zakir Patel, Sajid Shaikh, Ajay Bede, Sharad Ragde, Dilip Hiwrale, Dilip Pawar, Rashid Shaikh, and Balu Shinde, along with others, submitted the memorandum to the municipal corporation on Wednesday.
Demand for Rs 17,000 salary
The workers have demanded that if the minimum wage is implemented after deductions such as P.F. (Provident Fund), ESI (Employee State Insurance), and other contributions, drivers, supervisors, and zonal workers should receive around Rs 21,000 per month, while sanitary workers should receive around Rs 17,000 per month as salary.