Ministers Hold Talks With Protesting Sanitation Workers in Chennai
The workers are demanding a wage hike, a minimum monthly salary of Rs 25,000, regularisation of contract workers, weekly holidays, leave benefits and menstrual leave for women workers
Chennai: A team of Tamil Nadu government ministers, including Rural Development and Water Resources Minister N Anand, is scheduled to hold talks with protesting sanitation workers on Friday. Public Works and Sports Development Minister Aadhav Arjuna, Energy Resources and Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar and School Education Minister A Rajmohan are part of the ministerial delegation that will participate in negotiations at the Ripon Building, the headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation, in an effort to end the protest, which entered its 15th day on Friday.
The workers are demanding a wage hike, a minimum monthly salary of Rs 25,000, regularisation of contract workers, weekly holidays, leave benefits and menstrual leave for women workers.
The workers had staged a similar protest during the previous DMK government and were promised that their grievances would be addressed after the elections.
Led by the Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam and supported by several trade unions, hundreds of contract and National Urban Livelihood Mission conservancy workers have been protesting over their long-pending demands and working conditions.
They are also opposing the Greater Chennai Corporation's move to privatise solid waste management in certain zones of the city.
The issue came up during the ongoing session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on September 2, leading to a heated exchange between the opposition and the ruling party.
Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin of the DMK initiated a "call-attention" motion in the House on the ongoing strike, questioning why the government had not engaged the agitating sanitation workers in talks to resolve the issue.
Responding to him, Rajmohan said the files pertaining to the workers' eight-point demands were already on the CM's table.
He also took a swipe at the DMK, saying a similar agitation during the previous government had lasted about 150 days in 2025 without any response from the then government.
Udhayanidhi hit back, asking whether the current administration intended to wait until the protest reached 150 days.
