Contract sanitation workers in Karamadai Municipality, Coimbatore district, are on strike protesting delayed wage payments. The strike has affected cleaning operations in the municipality's 28 wards.
Coimbatore: Contract sanitation workers in Karamadai Municipality, Coimbatore district, have launched a strike to protest against the delayed payment of their wages. The strike has led to a halt in cleaning operations across the municipality's 28 wards.
Over 80 contract workers responsible for sanitation work in Karamadai Municipality are paid a daily wage of Rs. 507. According to the workers, the contractor is supposed to disburse their salaries once a month. However, they allege that the payments are not being made on time, leading to financial hardships.
The sanitation workers have raised several concerns regarding their employment conditions. They claim that the contractor does not provide them with details about deductions made for Provident Fund (PF) and Employee State Insurance (ESI). Furthermore, while the wages are supposed to be paid between the 1st and 5th of each month, the workers allege that the contractor often delays payments until the 20th of the month.
Frustrated with the persistent delays in wage disbursement, the contract sanitation workers decided to go on strike, boycotting their duties. This has resulted in a significant disruption of cleaning services in the Karamadai Municipality area, with garbage collection being severely affected.
In response to the strike, municipal officials and local police engaged in negotiations with the protesting workers.
During the talks, it was reported that the contractor has promised to disburse the wages tomorrow.
Based on this assurance, the sanitation workers have agreed to resume their duties from tomorrow.
However, as a result of today's strike, sanitation work in the Karamadai Municipality area has been severely impacted, leaving garbage uncollected and streets uncleaned. The situation is expected to normalize once the workers return to their duties, provided the contractor fulfills the promise of timely wage payment.