Garbage piles up in Shimla as workers’ strike enters third day

Cleanliness across the town took a major hit as the Shimla Environment Heritage Conservation and Beautification (SEHB) Society workers continued with their strike on Monday.

While heaps of garbage were seen in many parts of the town, trash from households and commercial buildings was not collected for the third consecutive day. People urged the Municipal Corporation to make arrangements for garbage collection as they feared spread of diseases from accumulated waste.

The SEHB workers went on a strike after salaries of several supervisors were withheld due to their opposition to the biometric attendance system. Recently, the supervisors of the society had demanded the release their February salaries, which, they said, were being withheld by the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

Terming the move as unjustified, the workers had claimed that the decision also violated the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

They added that while the salaries of other field employees working under the corporation have been released, the wages of 34 supervisors of the society were withheld on the issue of biometric attendance.

Meanwhile, Mayor Surinder Chauhan said the salaries had been released and the workers were expected to resume their work on Tuesday.

The action is clearly discriminatory and against the interests of the workers, the workers added. The workers stated that all supervisors had been performing their duties with full dedication and honesty for several years. “In such a situation, withholding their wages without any valid and lawful reason is contrary to labour laws and amounts to unfair treatment of employees,” they added.