‘We had 27 Protests in 2 Yrs on Salary Issues’- Antony Waste Handling Firm Worker
‘We had 27 Protests in 2 Yrs on Salary Issues’- said a worker employed with Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd speaking to Team Mangalorean. If the Company can’t pay their hard working employees their salary in time, then how did the Company decide to have a press conference at a high-class hotel to mark their two years of “Successful ??” launch in Mangaluru. While the invitees had a nice time and sumptuous dinner at the press conference, but sadly many of the Company laborers that night went to bed without proper food- you know what I mean? Instead of unwanted expenses spent on this Press Conference, the same money could have been used in settling some of the pending salaries of the poor workers.
Mangaluru: In a press release emailed to various media firms after the grand press conference held at Hotel Ocean Pearl on February 27 , Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt. Ltd., said that it was proud to announce its successful completion of two years of operations in Mangaluru. The release said that the company’s operations started in the city on 1st February, 2015 following signing of seven year contract with Mangaluru City Corporation for comprehensive sanitation and waste handling services in the city.
The press release also said, “Earlier to starting of our services, about 180 tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was being collected in the city. This was done using conventional trucks from open dumping spots scattered all over the city. Subsequent to our appointment, our sustained efforts to achieve complete coverage of the MCC limits has resulted in daily pick up of around 300 tons of MSW. This has been achieved with door to door collection of garbage, infusion of special purpose vehicles and trained personnel, introduction of professional garbage management systems etc. After Antony Waste Handling Cell commenced operations, the city’s ranking has improved to 3rd cleanest city of India (previously it stood at No. 11) and we are proud to have contributed to the cleaning and greening of Mangaluru. We are also proud to be the active participants in Namma Mangaluru Swachh Mangaluru.”
“We wish to hereby thank the citizens of Mangaluru for giving their full co-operation and support to us in our mission to meet the clean city objectives assigned to us by Mangaluru City Corporation. We are also grateful to Mangaluru City Corporation, DK District Administration and Government of Karnataka, all elected people’s representatives and civic officials for giving us their complete support and encouragement during the last two years,” said Tarjindar Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Antony Waste Handling Cell, as mentioned in the release. Well said in the press release!
Okay- if the Company is saying that they had a successful two years till now, then why is that during the last two years there had been quite a few press conferences held by Mangaluru City Corporation, opposition leaders, organizations and others about the non-satisfactory handling of the waste disposal, and also MCC has blamed Antony Waste Handling Cell many times not keeping their commitment and adhering to contract deal. Also during the last two years, the workers of this company have protested 27 times regarding their pending salaries. So how can such a Company say that it has served the MCC, company workers and also the citizens of Mangaluru very successfully, when complaints have poured in from all three (MCC, Company Workers and Mangaluru Citizens).
It is also learnt that when a journo at the press conference asked about the recent protest by civic workers over salary, Antony Waste Handling Firm COO Tajinder Singh had replied saying, “It happens. We face such issues when we switch from one phase to another. It is a part and parcel of the job. MCC is short of funds right now, but once it stabilizes it will get back to normalcy.” Okay, well said by Singh- even if MCC has funds to pay them or not, it is the duty of AWH to pay their employees, no matter what? – because AWH hired them, and not MCC. Antony Waste Handling Firm workers have nothing to do whether their company has been paid by MCC, to pay them. They are the employees of AWH and not MCC- so AWH has to make arrangements so that these poor workers are paid in time- and not keep their salaries pending for weeks and months. No matter what financial problems company face, they need to make certain arrangements in getting their employees paid- and not have press conferences or other company parties, leaving the poor laborers in dark?
In general, employees of such companies not only lose their jobs, but are often left in the dust. However, one thing is clear – employees must be paid by any means necessary. When it comes to companies in this predicament, they have to scramble – whatever they can do, but take care of their employees and their wages. Ramesh (name changed) a driver with AWH speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” I have been with company for nearly 2 years, since it started its operation.But as far as I can remember we have protested nearly 27 times in order to get our salary. Many a times only after our protests we were able to get paid. That’s not right. We work hard and many a times over-time- but if we don’t get paid in time, our faith in the company is lost”.
Lakshmi (name changed), a waste collector with AWH said, ” Many a times I have gone home crying without any money in my hand on salary day. I have a family with kids, and if we are treated like this how can we live. They make us work for long hours, but when it comes to paying for all the hard work that we did, they are very much reluctant. They make us wait for our salary. Tuesday morning we collected garbage from Hotel Ocean Pearl- and some of the garbage was from the dinner conference that our company had at that hotel. Our company has money to spend on meetings/conferences, but can’t pay us in time. What a society are we living in?”
