BMC workers' agitation: 10 years of legal battle for a tenure of dignity
- 3 years ago
The Supreme Court order that awarded 2700 contract workers permanent employment with the BMC is a culmination of a ten-year long bitter legal battle between the workers’ union and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The BMC had used various loopholes in the existing labour laws to deny workers their minimum wages and employee benefits. Despite a favourable ruling by the Industrial Tribunal to bestow permanent status to the 2,700 workers, the BMC challenged the verdict in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India, subsequently losing the case.
The verdict lambasts the attempts by BMC to enslave and violate the fundamental rights of the workers, ostensibly to keep the city clean. Especially on May 1, which is celebrated as International Labour Day, it affirms the fight for ensuring dignity and justice for workers, which is being trampled across the world.
For the 2,700 workers and their families, who gathered at Azad Maidan on May 1 to celebrate International Labour Day and Maharashtra Day, the SC verdict is a turning point as it allows them the opportunity to lead a better life and educate their children.
The BMC had used various loopholes in the existing labour laws to deny workers their minimum wages and employee benefits. Despite a favourable ruling by the Industrial Tribunal to bestow permanent status to the 2,700 workers, the BMC challenged the verdict in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India, subsequently losing the case.
The verdict lambasts the attempts by BMC to enslave and violate the fundamental rights of the workers, ostensibly to keep the city clean. Especially on May 1, which is celebrated as International Labour Day, it affirms the fight for ensuring dignity and justice for workers, which is being trampled across the world.
For the 2,700 workers and their families, who gathered at Azad Maidan on May 1 to celebrate International Labour Day and Maharashtra Day, the SC verdict is a turning point as it allows them the opportunity to lead a better life and educate their children.