The sanitation workers have said that they are firm on their earlier stand of continuing the strike and are planning a massive agitation against the concerned agencies. Terming the announcement of calling off the strike as a one-sided move of the Corporations, which was not communicated with the unions, the workers said that they would not resume work till they get assurance of timely payment of their salaries.
“There is no ground of joining work. The Corporations paid salaries due to the court order. Our other demands like regularising payment of arrears and cashless medical facilities have not been accepted yet,” said a union leader.
“As the Corporations and the city government are reluctant to pay heed to our needs, we have decided to gear up against them. In order to mark our protest, we have asked sanitation workers to assemble at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday. Corporations’ employees who are either on strike or on duty will be strictly asked not to involve in cleaning exercise. “The Corporations’ special cleanliness drive, which is being carried out with the help of a few hundred sanitation workers associated with two-three unions, will surely come to an end from Wednesday onwards,” said Rajendra Mewati, president of Delhi Pradesh Safai Mazdoor Union.
He said that sanitation workers from as many as 18 unions participated in the strike and only two of them- Akhil Bharatiya <g data-gr-id="50">Safai</g> <g data-gr-id="51">Majdoor</g> Congress and Delhi Nagar Nigam Safai Mazdoor Sangh announced a partial call off on Friday. The unions, which represent 600 to 700 employees, succumbed under political <g data-gr-id="48">pressure</g> but the remaining are still united under one banner- United Front of MCD Employees. “The Corporations with the help of a few hundred employees are carrying cleanliness drives in which only garbage pile-ups are being removed from the major <g data-gr-id="46">roads</g> but their employees are not involved in cleaning-up exercises. Streets, roads, residential areas, parks and public places are still untouched. It’s very unfortunate that Corporations called off the strike without our consent and communicated the same to media,” said Mewati.
Reacting over the issue, Corporations have said that they are concerned about the ongoing crisis and are trying to resolve them. “As MCDs are facing <g data-gr-id="38">financial</g> crisis, it is hard to resolve the salary menace. Although we are trying to chalk out a plan, we are not in a position to assure regarding <g data-gr-id="37">timely</g> payment of salaries and other perks. For now we are focusing on removal of garbage pile-ups dumped across the region. As we have paid salaries for May, we have asked employees to join duty,” said a councillor from East MCD.