Coimbatore Corporation contract sanitary workers boycott work demanding salary hike

COIMBATORE: Around 300 contract sanitary workers of the Coimbatore Corporation on Wednesday boycotted work and staged a protest demanding a salary hike. The contract workers affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) demanded that the civic body furnish their ESI and PF details.

The daily wage of the sanitary workers had already been revised to Rs 720 from Rs 488. However, the workers alleged that they were not paid the revised salary.

Santhanam Kumar, who has been working as a contract employee for the corporation since 2010, said, "Over the last 15 years, the basic wages have always been a problem and continue to be the same. They do not reveal the salary nor provide a salary slip.”

“Managing the family is impossible with the wages we are being paid. We are paid around Rs 15,000 every month. Of this, Rs 5,000 goes for house rent, Rs 5,000 for kids’ education fees and the rest for household expenses. We are left with no savings as such. My son has also become a sanitary worker since I can’t afford his college fees," he said.

Santhanam said the situation of most of the workers was the same. "The current system continues to suppress the economically backward people", he alleged.

Another worker said, "Every time a new contractor comes, they issue an order with a revised wage. But none of it seems to be implemented. The permanent sanitary workers of the corporation are well paid. But we are not. Why is there a huge difference when the work done is the same?"

A senior corporation official said a special camp for the settlement of pending ESI and PF dues would be held next week. “Everything will be handed over to the new contractor. The workers’ payment would stand at Rs 640 without deductions. Discussions with the contractor are under way to provide the revised salary of Rs. 720 to the workers,” the official said.

He said the new contractor had assured transparency of transactions by enabling an SMS notification of the deductions every month.