Thousands of sanitation workers of the Chennai Corporation, led by the Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (Toilers Rights Movement) affiliated to the LTUC–AICCTU, are continuing their determined struggle demanding the restoration of their employment status and the intervention of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to resolve the ongoing crisis in a just manner.

On 25 October, the workers marked the eighty-sixth day of denial of employment with a day-long hunger strike that drew widespread attention from the media, trade unionists and the general public. Leaders from several political parties, including the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and VCK, joined the protest to express their solidarity. Representatives from Tamizhaka Vazhvurimai Katchi (Tamil Nadu Party of Livelihood Rights), Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (Humanist People’s Party), SDPI and the RSP were also present.

The hunger strike was inaugurated by Comrade S. S. Balaji, MLA of the VCK, and concluded under the leadership of Comrade Shanmugam, the state secretary of the CPI(M). Comrade Asaithambi, state secretary of CPI(ML) Liberation, addressed the gathering and called upon Chief Minister M. K. Stalin to intervene immediately to resolve the workers’ long-pending issues. Comrade Kumarasami, Advisor of the AICCTU, also spoke at the protest, while the state president of AICCTU presided over the programme. Former Madras High Court judge Hari Paranthaman joined the demonstration to extend his support to the workers’ struggle.