Bengaluru: Civic sanitation workers (pourakarmikas) protested in various areas throughout Bengaluru to demand an apology from Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda for comments he made on absenteeism and the workers’ demand for regularisation.
The protests have brought back the awareness of contract employment, job security, wages and working conditions for sanitation workers in the city.
The dispute began when Byre Gowda conducted early-morning inspections in parts of Bengaluru and raised concerns about civic sanitation workers’ absence. In some areas the minister cited an absenteeism level of around 30 per cent and questioned how workers who were not regularly reporting for duty could be considered for permanent employment. His comments came as sanitation workers were seeking regularisation of their services.
The comments were criticised by worker organisations and labour groups. BBMP Powrakarmikara Sangha (All India Central Council of Trade Unions) has demanded that the minister apologise publicly. Workers have said that they did not adequately reflect the difficulties faced by those working in sanitation and have called for more attention to their employment conditions.
Workers were seen holding placards demanding an apology from the minister during the recent demonstrations. Their demands include regularisation of contract sanitation workers and better working conditions. As noted by the unions, workers have also been complaining about long hours of waiting times, low wages, social security benefits and the role of contractors in the employment system.
Regularisation is one of the main issues in the dispute. Bengaluru has thousands of pourakarmikas who provide essential sanitation services, and reports have said a large number have already been regularised while others work under contracts. Workers seeking regularisation argue that permanent employment would provide greater job security and access to employment-related benefits.
At the same time, the minister was talking about accountability and attendance. Byre Gowda has said regularisation cannot be separated from workers doing their job and absenteeism can affect garbage collection and the cleanliness of the city. His words have received mixed responses - some people are in favour of the emphasis on attendance while others feel workers are upset about how their concerns were not being listened to.
The concern is not just about regularisation. For workers, there have been concerns around wages, weekly holidays, social security benefits, safety equipment and working conditions. According to worker representatives in the protests, delays in receiving wages and difficulties accessing benefits such as Employees' State Insurance and provident fund support were among the claims.
A protest by contract civic workers in Vidhana Soudha was disrupted on September 12 and several workers were detained by Bengaluru police. The workers were demanding an apology from Byre Gowda and other labour-related demands. The incident contributed to the dispute between workers and authorities.
The controversy has also helped build up a larger discussion about the importance of sanitation workers to Bengaluru’s daily civic services. Pourakarmikas do street sweeping and waste collection, and so their work is directly related to public sanitation as well as to the operations of neighbourhoods in Bengaluru. The current dispute has thus put employment security and civic accountability at the forefront in the public conversation.
For the workers, the protests are intended to pressure the government to respond to their demands and ask for an apology from the minister. For the administration, it is a matter of regular attendance and good sanitation service delivery. The issues of worker-citizen relations will play out in the next two years in Bengaluru because of the waste management and labour problems.
The recent demonstrations make it clear that the dispute is not limited to one statement but is also a bigger conversation that has to do with how contract sanitation workers should be regarded, how regularisation should be handled and what responsibilities should be assigned to permanent employment.
The demands will need to be addressed further in the government, civic authorities and workers’ representatives.
