Sanitation work, a means to an end: BMC employee Sunil Jagdale

Wadala sanitation worker Jagdale talks about the different lenses on the work of sanitation and the journey of the community through the years

Sanitation Worker

Sweeping the roads of Wadala, Mumbai, Sunil Jagdale says he is happy to be finally recognised as a ‘permanent employee’ of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). Jagdale is among the 580 sanitation workers, who on July 7, 2021 rid themselves of the title ‘contract workers’ and availed permanency with related benefits.

A years-long battle alongside the Kachra Vahatuk Shramik Sangh (KVSS) concluded with an industrial court order directing the MCGM to compensate petitioners for their work since their date of joining.

“The KVSS unionised those who needed representation before the court. But the BMC [Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation] still has many un-unionized workers that need permanency. Nothing will come unless we revolt. We are strong when we stand together,” says Jagdale.

The 42-year-old referred to the fact that despite winning the court case, employees still have to protest against the gradual reduction in employees. Where his ward once employed 200 workers, only 88 workers are employed in rotation.

“When we asked the authorities for an explanation, they said the orders came from higher ups,” he says.

Speaking about union issues, Jagdale says that while the media does cover their protests, it does not highlight their issues properly. Sanitation workers demand basic rights and benefits which are not properly portrayed by most media. They don’t show the whole protest, he says. For example, despite a hattrick victory in the legal world, Mumbai’s sanitation workers continue to struggle with inadequate income. According to Jagdale, who earns for a family of two people, he receives around Rs. 600 in hand.

Even this payment is delayed many times, he says, which is why his wife is often more concerned about timely payments than the stigma attached to sanitation work.

Jagdale’s work schedule starts in the afternoon from 2 PM to 10 PM. Each employee in his ward is to clean 1 km of the concerned road. Garbage is collected and when there is no bin nearby, the employee waits for the garbage van to take away the collected garbage.

In between all this, employees get a half an hour lunch break – but no lunch area. Despite years of protest and an on-going pandemic, the BMC is yet to provide for sanitary lunch conditions. Jagdale says most employees simply eat where they can. Most of the time, they eat their home-made lunch in the shade of garbage vans.

“To have to work in garbage is something that only Scheduled Caste people can do. It’s not as if we like to do it. But we do not have any other choice. This is the only job we get,” says Jagdale.

Aside from hygienic workplaces, sanitation workers await the day that the administration will give them the proper uniform to carry out their work. Currently, they wear jackets and hand gloves. Officials handed these items a long time ago, but even during Covid-19 they did not receive masks or sanitisers. Although, workers managed to avail small LifeBuoy soaps through a KVSS initiative, the lack of gear results in a persisting problem of ‘work smell.’

“If we have to work near garbage, the smell will stick to our clothes. Before, bus drivers used to keep us from boarding the public transport if we reeked. But the situation is better now. After decades of struggle, things have improved. Except we still have no lunch area or toilets even during rains,” says Jagdale.

When asked about his work, Jagdale says he views sweeping as a means to an end. He started working as a cleaner for the BMC between 1996 and 1997 when contract workers were hired for Rs. 30 per day. People used spades to clean gutters in Sewri Koliwada road and similar areas.

It was only after the Kachra Vahtuk Sangharsh Samiti was formed in 1997 that workers unionised and realized their right to assert adequate wages and benefits. Members visited all 24 wards of Mumbai city to talk to people about the need to voice demands. Many people, including Jagdale, joined the Union with trepidation at first.

By 2000, sanitation workers resolved to stop work as a show of their resolve. For four long years, members passed days without work until KVSS General Secretary Milind Ranade assembled a meeting to figure out their working situation. Through this, Jagdale finally became a sweeper.

“This is the work that feeds me. It’s like any regular work. But now, I don’t want the next generation to suffer like us. I want them to learn and progress in life. When I have kids, I want them to have the freedom to do whatever work they want,” says Jagdale.

Related:

Maharashtra: 580 sanitation workers made permanent on industrial court orders!
‘Sanitation Workers Clean Our Cities, But They Are Denied Even Minimum Wage’

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