Over 500 Sanitation Workers Detained in Chennai

More than 500 temporary sanitation workers, including around 450 women, were detained on Friday after they protested outside the residence of Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran at Kilpauk. After the protest, security in the area was increased. The workers were later released in the evening.

The sanitation workers have been holding continuous protests since August 1. They are demanding that their services be made permanent and are opposing the privatisation of solid waste management in the Royapuram and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zones. They are also asking for better working conditions and the fulfilment of promises made earlier by the government.

UUI president K. Bharathi said that the workers only want the government to come forward for peaceful talks to resolve the issue. He said the women who went to the commissioner’s house are not criminals, but former sanitation workers who were earlier part of the corporation workforce and were later removed unfairly.

He also questioned why the government was treating sanitation workers differently, especially when it is holding discussions with other labour groups protesting for workers’ rights. He asked why sanitation workers are being portrayed as if they are deliberately protesting during the election period.