Strike affects garbage removal and sweeping in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad came to a standstill on Monday as no civic and water maintenance works were carried out.

The indefinite strike began on Monday as there were no further talks between agitating contract municipal employees and the state government,.

There were no sweeping, garbage lifting and transportation or tap water pipeline repairs on day one of the strike. Even roads leading to Rashtrapati Nilayam, where the President is currently staying, remained dirty.

Sanitation works in all the five zones of Greater Hyderabad were paralyzed. Nearly 69,000 contract municipal employees, including 24,000 contract employees of GHMC, have gone on strike demanding a minimum salary of Rs 14,170 for contract employees, Rs 17,380 for skilled employees besides PF and health cards for permanent employees.

Contract municipal employees, under the banner of TS Municipal Employees’ Labour United Association, have taken up the strike.

CITU president T. Venkatesham, said, “Despite knowing that all sanitation employees have called for an indefinite strike, the GHMC authorities have not called for any talks on Monday. Unless the government comes to terms with our demands, no works will be touched in GHMC jurisdiction. The association has made representation on 16 major demands, which include salary hike, PF and health cards. We had served the strike notice to the TS government on June 8 and labour minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy had held discussions on June 20 and assured to resolve their demands.”

The Hyderabad Water Works and Sewerage Kamgar Union is also part of the strike. The sewerage staff did not work on Monday and three days later the water supply staff will stop work as well, until the issue of implementation of the Pay Revision committee PRC- 2015 is sorted out.