Chennai Metrowater workers stage protest

December 21, 2014 08:27 am | Updated 08:27 am IST - CHENNAI:

Members of Chennai Metrowater Workers Union staged a demonstration on Friday, demanding better wages and job permanency.

Maduravoyal MLA G. Bheem Rao led the protest by the union, which is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. “Several labourers are working on a temporary basis for low wages for over a decade. While the government has fixed minimum wages at Rs. 293, the contract labourers of Metrowater get only Rs. 140,” he said.

The workers need to be given permanent jobs, he said, adding that as the city was expanding, there was a need for additional workers. At present, water pipelines cover a distance of 5,275 km across the city and added areas, he added.

The union members represented their woes to officials and are considering a day-long strike. There are over 1,000 contract labourers working on various projects of Chennai Metrowater, including the maintenance of water supply and the sewerage network, and the Veeranam scheme.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.