400 sanitary workers arrested for holding road blockade protest in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: The city police on Tuesday arrested more than 400 contract sanitary workers of the Coimbatore corporation for blocking the State Bank Road while conducting a sit-in protest in front of the district collectorate.

It was the second consecutive day of the protest. Garbage was not collected in many areas of the city in the last two days due to their protest.More than 3,700 sanitary workers, vehicle drivers and other cadres are working in the city municipal corporation on a contract basis. The corporation was paying their salaries through private contractors. The district administration has fixed a daily wage of Rs 770 for the temporary sanitary workers and other cadres, but the contractors allegedly failed to provide the amount to the sanitary workers.Sanitary workers boycotted work and staged a sit-in protest in front of the district collectorate on Monday morning. They demanded that district collector Pavankumar G Griyappanavar intervene in the issue immediately.On Tuesday morning, more than 400 sanitary workers gathered in front of the district collectorate and sat on the busy State Bank Road. They staged a road roko, and traffic was badly affected. The police held talks with them, but the protesters refused to disperse from the place.The police arrested more than 400 sanitary workers and taken them away from the protest venue in vehicles. The sanitary workers said they would intensify their protest if their demands were not met.