‘Give us weekly off without wage cut’

Madurai

Sanitary workers and other contract-based workers under the engineering and health department of the city corporation protested on the Corporation’s premises in Arignar Anna Maligai on Monday, demanding the Corporation to give them their weekly off without cutting their wages.

M. Balasubramanian, secretary of the Madurai Corporation Employees Union affiliated to the Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU), Madurai, said, “Many contract workers have been working for the Corporation for more than 10-15 years. We want them to be made as permanent employees with proper benefits. We also want the salary to be given by the Corporation and not by the contractors. Recently, the Corporation has been cutting workers’ salary, saying that they cannot be paid on weekly offs when they do not work. This is not fair as such practices were never undertaken before.”

He said that every worker deserves an off and they do not have to work on all seven days to get their full salary.

He also said that the Corporation should fill the 2400 vacancies in the engineering and health department.

K P Thangavel, president of the Madurai Corporation Sanitary Workers Welfare Association, affiliated to the Labour Progressive Federation, Madurai, said, “As front line workers, we also have to be given ₹ 15,000 that was announced as COVID-19 relief fund.”

They also asked for employment for sons/daughters of workers who had died in the past on compassionate grounds.