Stages agitation at BMC headquarter
Mumbai : Members of Safai Kachara Vahatuk Shramikshan, which is BMC contract workers’ union, marched to the civic body headquarters on Monday with the body of conservancy worker Yunus Ahmed Sheikh. The group blocked the exit from the BMC building for a little less than half hour.
The union demanded justice for thirty five year old Sheikh who lost his life when the BMC garbage collection van he worked with met with an accident on Friday. The union alleged that even though Sheikh had been made a permanent employee of the BMC, the civic body delayed in processing the case of 2700 such workers, thus delaying their payment. In this situation, Sheikh’s family will not benefit from his pension, due to the civic body’s negligence, the union alleged.
Speaking to Free Press Journal, Milind Ranade, who is the general secretary of the union informed that Sheikh was a part of workers who filed a case in the industrial tribunal to get permanency work status with the civic body. The case was ruled in their favour in 2014, which implied that the 2700 workers would get raised back-wages since 2007.
Even though BMC’s standing committee passed the proposal, the civic body did not clear the payment, denying the workers a raise, medical insurance, and pension. Ranade said, “Now that Sheikh is dead, his wife is entitled to a pension, but due to delay in paperwork that will not be processed. We are demanding justice for the family.”
Sheikh is survived by his wife and three children (two daughters and a son) all in the age group of 10 and 18 years. Sheikh was a contract worker employed with the civic solid waste management department for the past nine years. He was grievously injured after Fiday’s accident that threw him out of the truck as the vehicle toppled near Bandra. Sheikh hit his head on the ground and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday afternoon.
The union leaders met additional municipal commissioner Pallavi Darade, who has assured positive action on the civic body’s part, after the civic body inspects the case.