Municipal Employees’ Union strike enters day 2, staff burn Bhagwant Mann’s effigy

Union leaders accused the government of reneging on key promises made during the election campaign. They also alleged that plans were underway to hand over the city’s cleanliness work to a private operator at a cost of Rs 143 crore.

Safai Sewak Union president Bantu Sabherwal said, “The government promised the recruitment of 1,196 Class-IV employees, including sanitation workers, drivers, gardeners and even issued a notification. But not a single step has been taken toward actual recruitment. We have only received assurances.” Jalandhar requires at least 5,000 safai karamcharis, he said.

Bantu also alleged that “one worker is now handling three or more areas, which makes it impossible to maintain cleanliness with such a workload”.

The union leaders also pointed out that despite the expansion of Jalandhar’s municipal limits, the number of sanitation workers remains only around 1,300.

Bantu also claimed that fourth-class employees are not being assigned duties according to their designated posts. “Even the Mayor has repeatedly directed officials to ensure proper duty allocation. But… gardeners are being made to do sanitation work.” He also said the employees are not even paid their salaries on time.

The union also raised serious concerns about exploitation in certain areas. Bantu alleged that 15 sanitation workers in the Cantonment area were working for a year without pay. They were reportedly working under a councillor who has been assuring them of regularisation on his personal letterhead.

Some zones had already stopped receiving sanitation services on Thursday.

The union declared that the strike will continue until the government takes “concrete action” on all the demands. The main gate of the Municipal Corporation will remain locked, and workers warned that the agitation will intensify in the coming days.

Bantu said sewer men, drivers, gardeners and other staff members are also supporting the strike.

With the sanitation staff boycotting their duties, garbage collection in several parts of the city remained completely suspended. The agitation has resulted in heaps of waste piling up in residential and commercial areas.

Despite several rounds of meetings, Mayor Vineet Dheer failed to reach a breakthrough with the protesting employees.

On the issue of another safai karamchari union not joining the agitation, he said its head, Chandan Grewal, is now part of the AAP government. He currently serves as the chairman of the Punjab State Safai Karamchari Commission. Grewal could not be reached for comment.