A large number of municipal workers staged a dharna at the Collectorate here on Monday demanding better wages and other amenities.
They alleged that the sanitary workers, water works and staff of other department in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Employees were ‘lathi charged’ by the police when they participated in the ‘chalo Hyderabad’ programme on June 12 seeking a solution to their demands.
The GVMC Employees Union general secretary Pethakamsetty Venkat Reddy and president G. Subba Rao submitted a memorandum to the district Collector, for forwarding to the Chief Minister, demanding among other things provision of house sites and health cards to permanent workers and payment of Rs.12,500 as monthly wages for outsourced Class IV staff.
They noted that though the outsourced workers were working on par with the permanent workers, their services were not being regularised even after decades of service.
They should be paid equal wages and given benefits as per the Minimum Wages Act.
