Gurgaon: Sanitation workers continued their strike on Monday, asserting if their demands are not met by Tuesday, they will turn it into “an indefinite stir”.The protesters accused Haryana govt of failing to implement demands — on the 12th day of the strike — it had agreed to in a May 13 settlement. Their demands include regularisation of workers and ending the outsourcing of sanitation and sewerage operations.Around 2,800 sanitation workers engaged by MCG are on strike, leaving major parts of the city covered with garbage. MCG maintained that it is deputing the sanitation workers of the private agency to fill in the gap and engage in the city’s cleanliness operations.The prolonged strike has left piles of uncollected garbage in parts of the city, with union leaders warning that the accumulation of waste during hot and rainy weather could increase the risk of disease and pose a public health concern. The impact of the strike could be seen across the city including sectors 4, 5, 9, 10, 21, 23A, 52, old Delhi Gurgaon road, Ghata, Sikanderpur etc.On Monday, the protesters gathered at the old MCG office and marched through Agrasen Chowk, Shama and Session House Chowk before reaching the residence of mayor Raj Rani Malhotra, where they submitted a memorandum.President of Municipal Employees Union Basant Kumar said, “The govt has repeatedly called us for meetings and given assurances, but has failed to issue orders on the demands it agreed to. If the govt does not implement the agreed demands by Aug 18, we will be forced to turn the ongoing strike into an indefinite agitation. The responsibility for any escalation will lie entirely with the Haryana govt.”The union state president and former district president Rajesh Kumar alleged that despite more than a decade of BJP rule in Haryana, not a single sewer or sanitation worker had been recruited on a permanent basis, while sanitation work had increasingly been outsourced, leaving workers in insecure jobs and on low wages.The unions said the May 13 agreement covered 17 demands, including regularisation by June 30 of sanitation workers, gardeners, beldars, electricians, helpers, clerks, fire department drivers and firemen. They also demanded an end to outsourcing of sanitation and sewerage work and the absorption of contract workers into departmental rolls.According to the union, until regularisation, contract workers were to receive a minimum monthly wage of Rs 15,200 through banks along with benefits available under labour laws. The demands also included regular recruitment against vacant sanitation and sewer posts and reinstatement of retrenched workers, including 3,480 workers in the city.
