The civic workers under the aegis of AP Municipal Workers Joint Action Committee (JAC) have strongly opposed G.O. 279 issued by the State government. The workers demanded the government to withdraw it immediately and regularise their services.
The JAC organised a State-level meeting of civic workers here on Thursday.
Addressing the gathering, JAC chairman K. Umamaheswara Rao said that the G.O. is detrimental to the municipal workers in the State. The municipal workers jobs are at risk with the government plans to privatise the services in the local bodies. The government which boasts of welfare schemes for Dalits, BCs and tribals is behaving in an autocratic manner. Majority of municipal workers are from these sections, he said.
The government is portraying them as work shruggers despite the fact that they toil day and night to keep the cities and towns spic and span. Urbanisation is going on rapidly and the municipal solid waste is increasing 5 per cent every year. The government is not filling up the vacant posts though hundreds of sanitary workers retire every year. The government neither provides them soaps, gloves, chappals, oil nor masks, which were mandatory. But, ill treats them, he pointed out.
Under these circumstances, the government issued the G.O. 279, which questions their very existence, he alleged. The government should also regularise their services, and issue G.O. treating the strike period as holidays. He also wanted the government to withdraw the user charges system.
YSRTU leader M. Sivaramakrishna, CITU leader K. Samrajyam and others spoke on the occasion.
Hamalis demand wage hike
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Department Hamalis State Union has demanded the State government to increase the ‘coolie rate’ from Rs. 12 to Rs. 30 at madal-level stock points.
Union honorary president K. Umamaheswara Rao on Thursday said that the hamalis would take part in ‘Chalo Sub Collector’s office’ on February 22 to highlight their plight. The wage agreement for hamalis came to an end on December 31, 2015. The government would have to implement the new wages from January 1. However, the government is not holding any discussions with the trade unions. The government is forcing the hamalis to load and unload the stock in three days.
Earlier, the same job used to be done in 15 days. The government used to pay the bills by 20{+t}{+h}of every month and the hamalis used to load/unload the stock till 5{+t}{+h}of next month. There is tremendous pressure on the hamalis with implementation of e-pos and biometric system, he said.
AP Municipal Workers Joint Action Committee up in arms over G.O. 279
