For the past 8 years, WASA (Water and Sanitation Authority) workers have been facing difficulties in receiving their salaries. Workers have to stage protest demonstrations approximately 10 to 30 times annually to receive their wages.
When workers raise their voices, the administration pays two months’ salary as a token gesture to temporarily halt the protests. Neither the administration nor the union leadership is making any serious progress towards a permanent solution to the problem.
Different unions’ leadership staged separate protest demonstrations from September 2nd to 5th in front of Hyderabad Press Club. Workers raised strong slogans against the anti-worker administration and demanded immediate payment of salaries.
The workers stated that they perform their duties diligently in all seasons, but instead of appreciation, the administration has withheld even their basic rights, which is an insult to their labour.
The PTUS while unconditionally supporting all workers’ demands, strongly condemns these anti-worker policies of the administration. Similarly, we want to clearly message the workers that they should hold accountable any official that only appears in workers’ protests near elections or pre-election periods.
It is nothing but lies, deception, and accusations to say that workers don’t struggle. For the past 10 years, workers have not only been in struggle within their union but have been fighting continuously. Meanwhile, union leaderships have always wasted the struggle by relying on hypocritical measures like court cases and accepting two months’ salary as a token gesture.
In this situation, workers should immediately hold these union leaderships accountable, expose the reality of the leadership, form their strike committees, and move towards strikes. This is the only way to get all demands accepted from the administration and counter the cowardice and self-interest of union leaderships.
