This step is intended to safeguard the employees’ earnings until the dispute pending before the industrial tribunal is settled.
Published Sep 01, 2025 | 3:18 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 01, 2025 | 3:18 PM
Madras High Court. (Wikimedia)
Synopsis: The assurance by the corporation comes at a time when sanitation workers across Chennai have expressed concerns over privatisation and job security, emphasizing the importance of maintaining wages and working conditions during transitions to private management.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has assured the Madras High Court, on Monday, 1 September, that conservancy workers in Zones V (Royapuram) and VI (Thiru.Vi.Ka. Nagar) will continue to receive their previous salary until the resolution of an ongoing industrial dispute.
The assurance comes after the outsourcing of solid waste management in these zones to Delhi MSW Solutions Limited.
During Monday’s hearing before a Division Bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and R Sakthivel, Advocate General PS Raman stated that the concessionaire had agreed, as a temporary measure, to maintain the same wages for absorbed conservancy workers.
This step is intended to safeguard the employees’ earnings until the dispute pending before the industrial tribunal is settled.
The assurance follows a single judge’s order on 22 August 2025, in which the High Court had refused to quash the GCC resolutions for outsourcing.
The order also directed the corporation to ensure negotiations with the concessionaire and to maintain the workers’ last-drawn wages during the transition.
The AG noted that the concessionaire has a separate wage structure, which necessitated the temporary arrangement.
The next hearing at the industrial tribunal is scheduled for 3 September, 2025, while the High Court will hear the writ appeals filed by Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam, an organisation representing the conservancy workers, on 6 October 2025. Meanwhile, the Division Bench advised the workers to resume duty to prevent further accumulation of garbage in the city.
Senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing Delhi MSW Solutions, highlighted the operational challenges posed by nearly 800 conservancy workers who had not joined duty. He noted that the delay had resulted in difficulties in clearing approximately 2,000 tonnes of garbage daily, affecting sanitation in the two zones.
During the proceedings, the counsel for the appellant, S Kumaraswamy, also presented arguments urging the continuation of worker protections and adherence to the single judge’s directives.
The Division Bench, however, declined to pass any interim orders, choosing instead to issue notices to both the GCC and the private company while scheduling the next hearing in October.
The assurance by the corporation comes at a time when sanitation workers across Chennai have expressed concerns over privatisation and job security, emphasizing the importance of maintaining wages and working conditions during transitions to private management.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Veni EN)
