Sonepat sanitation workers call off strike, decide to go back to work

Contractual sanitation workers of the Sonepat Municipal Corporation on Sunday revoked their strike and decided to go back to work after the new contract company assured them that it would fulfill their demands and re-appoint all sanitation workers on duty.

The contractual sanitation workers were on strike since Thursday in support of their demands. A meeting of the safai karamchari was held in the Municipal Corporation park on Sunday and the meeting was presided by Mukesh Tank, president, Theka Safai Karamchari Ekta Manch.

Mukesh Tank said the sanitation workers had begun the strike in support of their demands in the MC, now the contractor is ready to accept all those demands of the sanitation workers. Even the contractor has given all these demands on his letter pad to him, the president said.

Tank further said that the contractor assured him in writing that, the workers who were on the job before August 31, all would be kept on work and a salary of Rs 15,000 would be given to them, which they had already taken from the previous contract company. He asked all sanitation workers to go back to work from Sunday and clean the city to welcome Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

Yudhishter, joint secretary, said this war would not end and would be continued till the end of the contractorship. The office-bearers and members of the union were present during the meeting.

Notably, the old tender of sanitation in Sonepat MC ended on August 31. The ULB Department allotted a new sanitation tender for zone 1 (from ward 1 to 14) on September 15. But, the contractual sanitation workers went on strike on September 18 and staged a protest at the MC gate. But, on September 19, the protest turned to violence, when the protesting sanitation workers reportedly attacked the MC officials and also chased them up to the PWD office and also broke the glass panes of the office there.

Following which, the MC officials and PWD officials gave two separate complaints against the assailants while, the sanitation employees gave a complaint against the MC officials for allegedly misbehaving with women workers and using casteist language.

The Civil Lines police have registered two separate cases against the sanitation workers on Saturday.