Conservancy workers protesting against outsourcing of their work in zones V (Royapuram) and VI (Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar) of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) are willing to work, even without wages, during the monsoon in November, Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI) told the Madras High Court on Monday.
In an affidavit filed before the third Division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and R. Sakthivel, the UUI president K. Bharathi said, the protesting workers were willing to work during November as a gesture of goodwill and in the interest of the general public and that they would not even seek wages as a pre-condition.
“Though it is true that we are suffering due to forced non-employment from August 1, 2025; we will do the sanitation work during the monsoon period in November 2025 since serving the people is an integral part of our life,” the affidavit, filed before the Division Bench during the hearing of a couple of writ appeals, read.
Stating that neither the State government nor the GCC would be prejudiced by accepting the protesting workers’ unconditional and voluntary services, Mr. Bharathi assured that they would not take advantage of such service either in the cases pending before the High Court or the dispute raised before the industrial tribunal.
