Indian sanitation workers union shuts down month-long strike; Western Australian bus drivers strike over pay
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
13 October 2018
Asia
India: Sanitation workers union calls off East Delhi Municipal Council strike
Thousands of East Delhi Municipal Council sanitation workers ended their month-long strike on October 10 following directives from the Swachhata Karmchari Union. The strike against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led municipality, which began on September 12, was for permanent jobs and regular payment of salaries.
The Swachhata Karmchari Union called off the industrial action claiming the mayor had given assurance that the council would phase in permanent employment for contract workers. The East Delhi Municipal Council has around 16,000 workers, half of who are contract employees.
The decision to end the strikes came a few days after municipal authorities on October 8 terminated the jobs of 26 contract sanitation workers and suspended 17 others for allegedly “obstructing” work. On the same day police in New Delhi attacked a large protest of sanitation workers.
Meanwhile, sanitation workers in Vijayawada, a major city in Andra Pradesh state, remain on strike after walking out indefinitely last week in protest against the privatisation of sanitation services and to demand higher pay and permanent jobs. The strike action, which was called by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, has seen hundreds of workers stage sit-down protests in the city. Strikers want a minimum monthly salary of 18,000 rupees ($US246).
India: Auto-component workers protest in Gurugram
Hundreds of workers from different automotive companies operating in and around Gurugram in Haryana state held a one-day hunger strike and demonstration in the city last…