Six striking sanitary workers booked for obstructing cleaning work

Coimbatore: Police on Saturday booked a case against six contract sanitary workers of the city corporation for not allowing other workers carry out cleaning at Saibaba Colony.

While garbage was piling up on the streets after the Diwali festival, sanitary workers on contract were not willing to get back to work, sanitary officer of west zone R Radhakrishnan said. "They have been demanding higher bonus and are on strike. So, we employed other workers, who were willing to clean up the streets. But, six striking contract workers did not let the workers use the lorry, which is corporation property. They even used abusive language and prevented the other workers from cleaning," he told TOI.

City police booked Sanavas, Iqbal, Rajan, Jhonny, Palinasamy and Jalil under various sections of the Tamil Nadu police Act and the Indian penal code for rioting, wrongful restraint and for deterring a public servant from discharging duty. The six have been working as lorry drivers and cleaners with the corporation for more than 10 years, sources said.

Meanwhile, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Colonel Ambdekar Scavenger General Employee Union R Selvam denied the charges against the six workers. "On Saturday around 7am, some private workers came and asked for the key of the lorry. The workers refused to hand over the keys as it was government property. An argument ensued between them over the issue. Authorities have registered this case against us to stop us from protesting," he told TOI.

Selvam said that a meeting was held at the labour office on Saturday evening, where corporation officials gave in writing that they will not take any action against the workers if they withdrew the protest. "However, the corporation is not allowing them to get back to work stating that a case has been registered against them," he added.

The contract workers were promised Rs 4,000 as bonus and lorry drivers had demanded two months salary as bonus for Diwali, a striking sanitary worker said. "We launched the protest after the corporation gave us just Rs 1,000," he said.

The corporation used to deploy as many as 32 lorries and 575 contract sanitary workers for collecting garbage from the west zone, Radhakrishnan said. "Due to the strike, nearly 420 garbage bins placed in the zone are overflowing with garbage. The contract workers have been striking for two days. But, we are answerable to the public," he added.