The Kudumbasree workers in Kozhikode Municipal Corporation, who are engaged in solid waste management for the past 15 years, have decided to go on an indefinite strike from June 16 if the corporation refuses to accept their demands by Thursday.
Secretary of the District Solid Waste Management Workers’ Union P. Girija told reporters here on Wednesday that the corporation did not keep its 14-year-old promise to appoint Kudumbasree waste management workers as temporary employees despite several reminders and memoranda. “The corporation council had recommended this to the State government once, but there were no persistent attempts to get the government approval. Now, with their future in question due to the new waste management policies of the corporation, the workers are forced to go on strike,” Ms. Girija said.
The workers have put forth various demands. The key demand is to accept the workers who are in the field for the past 15 years as temporary employees of the corporation, and to implement a Supreme Court order to provide them the same wages as that of permanent employees.
They have also demanded that the safety equipment for work during the rainy season be distributed immediately, and to resume the insurance scheme for them, which was abandoned some time ago. Those workers who have become ill due to frequent exposure to waste should be provided health card and medicines. The jobs of the workers should be secured before the corporation shifts to the new waste management methods permanently.
There were 750 Kudumbasree workers in the waste management sector when they started 15 years ago. Five years later, it got reduced to around 500, and now there are just around 400 workers in the field. Most people had given up the job due to the health hazards it posed. If they were employees of the corporation, it would have to spend around ₹4.32 crore per year for their salary.
Now, households pay them. After meeting the expenses of fuel and vehicle repairs, a worker barely gets a take-home of around ₹3,000 to ₹4,000. On the other hand, the corporation did not feel the need to appoint more permanent employees for cleaning as the Kudumbasree workers were doing most of the job, she said.