On 13 August 2018, workers’ union of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), held an angry sit in protest outside the Labour Department Office demanding equal pay for equal work, legally mandated minimum wage and that their jobs are regularized. The protesting workers shared that in absence of regularization, job security, benefits like ESI, PF etc. remain denied to them. The contract system is extremely exploitative and encourages disproportionate and unequal payments. Com. Clifton Rozario, CC member of CPI(ML) said that “They are getting salaries of 6000 and 7000 which is much below the notified minimum wage. It is very difficult to survive on that.” He added that the workers who had been outsourced by the BWSSB were not getting minimum wages. There is a huge discrepancy between the salaries given to regular and contract employees even as the law mandates equal pay for equal work. Protestors met the Labour Commissioner and seeing the strength and resolve of the protest he issued notice to the BWSSB, which he ought to have done much earlier as this is his job to look after welfare and implementation of the legal rights of workers. A meeting on the issue has been called by the Labour Commission on August 17 to discuss the matters further. Hundreds of workers participated in the protest and threatened to launch an indefinite strike if their demands were not fulfilled.
