The AICCTU and LTUC are holding a week-long campaign from 10 to 17 September across eight districts of Tamil Nadu, demanding justice and rights for sanitation workers.
The campaign began on 10 September in Coimbatore, where AICCTU State President Comrade Bharathi was to inaugurate the drive. Permission for the inaugural meeting was denied at the very outset. Undeterred, the campaign was launched at the Pricol Workers’ Union office through a meeting with sanitation workers. A planned meeting in a community hall in a workers’ locality was also refused permission, forcing it to be held at a worker’s house. Comrades Desikan, Govindaraj and Balasubramanian addressed the gathering.
Since then, the campaign has continued amidst heavy obstacles created by the police and the state. The workers and unions remain determined to press forward with their struggle for permanency, minimum wages, and against outsourcing and false cases.
One such campaign event was held in Tenkasi on 16 September, where sanitation workers assembled in protest as part of the drive. CPI(ML) State Secretary Comrade P Asaithambi addressed the meeting, reiterating core demands including permanent jobs for sanitation staff and the institution of a sanitation police force to safeguard their rights.
The ongoing campaign follows the 13-day protest from 1 August, in which over 2,000 sanitation workers from two of the 15 zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) launched an indefinite agitation under the banner of the Toilers’ Rights Forum (TRF), affiliated to LTUC and AICCTU. That struggle was met with a massive police crackdown on 13 August.
In spite of state repression, sanitation workers are carrying forward their battle for dignity and justice, with AICCTU and LTUC determined to amplify their voices across Tamil Nadu.
