Sanitation workers call off strike after 15 days
Haryana govt accepts most of their demands in the second round of talks; the strike had led to piling up of garbage at various cities in the state
CHANDIGARH: The employees of all civic bodies of Haryana, including sanitation workers, who had been on strike since May 9, called off their protest after the state government accepted most of their demands in the second round of talks with them here on Thursday.
Talking to mediapersons here, urban local bodies (ULB) minister Kavita Jain, who was accompanied by social justice and empowerment minister Krishan Bedi and cooperation minister Manish Grover, said the government accepted to end the contract system for the employees of the civic bodies. A cut-off date in this regard would soon be announced by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, she said. Also, it has been decided to hike the minimum monthly wages of employees from Rs 11,500 to 13,500.
The three ministers held a meeting with civic body employees’ leaders earlier in the day as their previous meeting with Khattar held about a week ago had failed and the workers’ union continued its strike.
The employees’ main
demands included regularisation of the contractual employees, an end to contract system, same pay for same work and other service benefits.
Haryana Nagar Palika Karmchari Sangh president Naresh Shastri and Sarv Karmchari
Sangh Haryana general secretary Subhash Lamba, who represented the workers at the meeting with the ministers, said the government has also accepted to hike monthly ‘safai bhatta’ (sanitation allowance) from Rs 325 to Rs 1,000 and broom allowance from Rs 5 to Rs 150.
The government has also accepted to set up a committee to regularise the contractual employees and not to retrench firemen, they added.
Notably, the contractual staff comprising 30,000 employees of 87 civic bodies (61 municipal committees, 16 municipal councils and 10 municipal corporations) in the state had been on an indefinite strike since May 9.
The sanitation workers had also started dumping garbage and holding demonstrations in front of government offices and other public places in different parts of the state, including Rohtak, Karnal and Hisar.