Sewerage workers have threatened to strike work from June 21 in support of their long pending demand for regularisation of services of the hand receipt pay (HR) labours.
More than 500 workers owing allegiance to the AITUC affiliated HMWSSB Staff and Workers Union have already served the strike notice on the management.
“We will stay off the routine work of sewerage cleaning till our demands are conceded,” said K. Satyanarayana, general secretary of the union.
He told presspersons here on Sunday that a total of 517 HR labourers worked for the Water Board on daily wage basis. Following a writ petition, the High Court had ordered for regularisation of 294 workers.
Court order ignored
But in violation of the court orders, the Board had not regularised them. The former chief minister, Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, had even okayed the regularisation of 150 workers but still the Board chose to ignore, Mr. Satyanarayana said.
He said the HR labourer was doing the dirty job of cleaning sewerage lines at great personal risk since 1989 for a pittance of Rs. 288 per day. This was much less than what a woman labourer commanded. Over the years 30 workers died after inhaling toxic gases but no compassionate appointment was made so far.
Free bus pass
Mr. Satyanaryana demanded immediate regularisation of services of all workers and provision of free bus pass to them. He said the Water Board would be solely responsible for the inconvenience caused due to the strike.
