Centre of Indian Trade Unions has complained that Virudhunagar municipality has not paid ₹428 a day wages fixed by Virudhunagar Collector for 2021-22, but ₹385 a day of the previous year, to its cleanliness workers under contract.
R. Balasubramanian, district secretary of CITU-affiliated Rural Development and Local Administration Department Employees’ Association said that Virudhunagar municipality has employed over 170 cleanliness on contract basis and they were paid only ₹385 a day wages, fixed for 2019-2020, till December 2021.
Mr. Balasubramanian said that many municipalities were not following the daily wages being fixed by the Collector for the particular year.
“The local bodies claim that their agreement with the contractor has fixed rate and the wages fixed by the Collector subsequent to awarding of contract could not be paid,” he said.
The new wages which has to come into effect on April 1 every year is usually fixed after three to four months.The local bodies take this as an advantage without inserting a clause in the agreement making the contractor pay the wages subsequently fixed by the Collector, he said.
Stating that it was a great injustice to the cleanliness workers who are working putting their lives in danger during the COVID times, he said even the COVID incentive of ₹5,000 a month for the frontline workers announced for April, May and June has not been paid to them.
“The workers take risk to clear garbage even in COVID containment zones,” Mr. Balasubramanian said.
He also complained that Aruppukottai municipality was paying only ₹7,000 a month for women cleanliness workers and ₹8,000 for male workers, which was far low than what has been fixed by the Collector.
Besides, he complained of irregularities in payment of wages as the contractor was not deploying the actual number of workers as per the agreement.
