Will continue strike, assert municipal outsourcing workers in Andhra Pradesh after talks with State government fail for second time

Outsourced municipal workers continue indefinite strike after failed talks with Andhra Pradesh govt.

Municipal outsourced workers on January 2 (Tuesday) announced that their indefinite strike would continue, after a second round of talks with the Andhra Pradesh government failed to find common ground on a host of issues.

Expressing disappointment after the second round of talks held at the Secretariat, general secretary of the CITU-affiliated A.P. Municipal Workers’ and Employees’ Federation, K. Umamaheswara Rao, told The Hindu that there was no clarity from the government on the workers’ chief demand of equal pay for equal work and regularisation of their services.

“At first, the Ministers seemed to respond positively to some of our 13 demands. But after lunch, Government Adviser (Public Policy) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the demand for equal pay for equal work cannot be met, as others also will start demanding the same. He asked us to call off the strike, but we told the Ministers that it is not going to happen,” Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said.

Until now, around 30,000 contract municipal workers were taking part in 95 of the 123 municipalities in the State. Henceforth, more unions, including the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and other independent ones in Guntur, Anantapur, Kurnool and other places, have announced that they too would join the strike from January 3 (Wednesday). “The number of protesters will reach 45,000 then,” the union leader said.

“There is no clarity on when the next meeting will be, though some media reports say it could be around January 12 or 15. The Ministers informed us that they will take up the issue with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, but we do not know when they will call us for a meeting. Until then, we will continue our strike,” Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said.

Tuesday’s meeting was the second after last week’s meeting with Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister Audimulapu Suresh failed to make much headway.

The State government had, through a Government Order (G.O. Ms. No. 1) on January 1, extended the monthly Occupational Health Allowance (OHA) of ₹6,000 to outsourced underground drainage workers (UGDs), sanitation vehicle drivers and malaria workers of the Public Health Department. However, workers demanded that the same benefits be extended to park workers too.