1. Morcha at Azad maidan for minimum wages of workers ( safai kaamgar) in Andheri K east and Andheri K west ward KVSS organized protest on March 22nd at Azad maidan, Mumbai for the issue of irregularity and inequality in wage distribution for Jhadu safai kaamgar in Andheri K east and K west ward. students from TISS were also played a significant role in organzing this protest. Around 250 gathered there for their issues with BMC. Initially the officials were not ready to talk but after this continuous Naarebaji ( slogan shouting) by labourer, the Additional Commissioner called up leaders to meet. After a long discussion Addl. Commissioner was ready to solve the issue of minimum wages and irregularity in wage distribution.
2. KVSS organized a morcha at Labour commissioner office on April 2
Students of TISS working with KVSS for field work have organized a Morcha against the wage disparity among workers who are working on same sites. Some of the worker are getting minimum wages and some of them are not, this was the issue of discrimination against some of them which can not bearable. So union raised this issues and organized the rally at Bandra kurla complex. Delegation from workers side called up for meeting with Additional Commissioner where they kept all issues in front of authority and convince them to look into the matter as soon as possible and solve the issue.
http://www.outlookbusiness.com/article_v3.aspx?artid=261419
Milind Ranade, Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh
The Mission: To organise dalit labourers, especially conservancy workers.
The Benefits: Stipulated minimum wages to workers, as well as dignity and confidence. Will To Survive Milind Ranade fights for the rights of Maharashtra’s poorest and most marginalised labour group. Naren Karunakaran
Comrade Milind Ranade, a member of the leftist Lal Nishan party, is as entrepreneurial in theconduct of his union, the Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh(KVSS), as any social entrepreneur from an Ivy League institution.
He may don the street-fighting persona occasionally, but Ranade is very process-driven. He organises the most vulnerable of all workers in the country, those even traditional trade unions don’t touch: the dalits. They form a bulk of the workers handling municipal waste. In Mumbai, the organisation has about 6,000 members and is now moving to other cities of Maharashtra.
In Nashik, for years, Ranade campaigned against Ramrao Patil, the politician-contractor, who has now charged Buta Singh, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, with demanding a bribe to hush up a case against him. Unfortunately, only the corruption issue has been highlighted.
“What is ignored is the fact that Patil, mafia-like, enslaved hundreds of ill-paid workers and duped them by forging signatures and taking loans of huge amounts in their name,” laments Ranade, as he makes the rounds of Nashik slums, urging those affected not to give in.
“I was beaten up with a hockey stick once, but kept quiet hoping I would be made a permanent worker one day,” recalls Vishwas Gaikwad, of his employment with Patil. Even as he discusses the Patil case, Ranade admonishes Tarabai Manle, another resident of the Bhagatsingh Nagar slum, for not registering with the ‘bewda (alcoholic) register’ of the union. The salaries of alcoholic workers in the register are collected by the union and handed over to women family members.
Since 1997, when the KVSS was formed in Mumbai, Ranade has ensured minimum wages to 3,500 of the 6,000 contract workers in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, through agitations and legal battles right up to the Supreme Court. It was a sharing-of-spoils system at work, at the expense of contract workers.
Each garbage contractor earned Rs 36,000 as profit daily, while workers got just Rs 90 for three trips to the dumping ground. Today, workers in his union earn the minimum wage of Rs 3,900 a month. The KVSS has also looked at larger issues and prevented, what he says, is a conspiracy against the dalits by the Indian bureaucracy.
“There was an attempt to bring conservancy workers out of the purview of the Contract
Labour Act through the back door,” he explains. “By doing so, the issue of giving them permanent status and other perquisites wouldn’t arise.” This was the case popularly known as the Almitra Patel case, which dragged for years.
Ranade, a seasoned campaigner, has come a long way since he got frantic summons from his daughter’s school once. His daughter was asked about him, and she said, “he sings on streets and collects money.” This was the time when Ranade and friends collected money and grain for the riot-affected in Mumbai in the early-90s.
Milind Ranade, Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh
The Mission: To organise dalit labourers, especially conservancy workers.
The Benefits: Stipulated minimum wages to workers, as well as dignity and confidence. Will To Survive Milind Ranade fights for the rights of Maharashtra’s poorest and most marginalised labour group. Naren Karunakaran
Comrade Milind Ranade, a member of the leftist Lal Nishan party, is as entrepreneurial in theconduct of his union, the Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh(KVSS), as any social entrepreneur from an Ivy League institution.
He may don the street-fighting persona occasionally, but Ranade is very process-driven. He organises the most vulnerable of all workers in the country, those even traditional trade unions don’t touch: the dalits. They form a bulk of the workers handling municipal waste. In Mumbai, the organisation has about 6,000 members and is now moving to other cities of Maharashtra.
In Nashik, for years, Ranade campaigned against Ramrao Patil, the politician-contractor, who has now charged Buta Singh, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, with demanding a bribe to hush up a case against him. Unfortunately, only the corruption issue has been highlighted.
“What is ignored is the fact that Patil, mafia-like, enslaved hundreds of ill-paid workers and duped them by forging signatures and taking loans of huge amounts in their name,” laments Ranade, as he makes the rounds of Nashik slums, urging those affected not to give in.
“I was beaten up with a hockey stick once, but kept quiet hoping I would be made a permanent worker one day,” recalls Vishwas Gaikwad, of his employment with Patil. Even as he discusses the Patil case, Ranade admonishes Tarabai Manle, another resident of the Bhagatsingh Nagar slum, for not registering with the ‘bewda (alcoholic) register’ of the union. The salaries of alcoholic workers in the register are collected by the union and handed over to women family members.
Since 1997, when the KVSS was formed in Mumbai, Ranade has ensured minimum wages to 3,500 of the 6,000 contract workers in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, through agitations and legal battles right up to the Supreme Court. It was a sharing-of-spoils system at work, at the expense of contract workers.
Each garbage contractor earned Rs 36,000 as profit daily, while workers got just Rs 90 for three trips to the dumping ground. Today, workers in his union earn the minimum wage of Rs 3,900 a month. The KVSS has also looked at larger issues and prevented, what he says, is a conspiracy against the dalits by the Indian bureaucracy.
“There was an attempt to bring conservancy workers out of the purview of the Contract
Labour Act through the back door,” he explains. “By doing so, the issue of giving them permanent status and other perquisites wouldn’t arise.” This was the case popularly known as the Almitra Patel case, which dragged for years.
Ranade, a seasoned campaigner, has come a long way since he got frantic summons from his daughter’s school once. His daughter was asked about him, and she said, “he sings on streets and collects money.” This was the time when Ranade and friends collected money and grain for the riot-affected in Mumbai in the early-90s.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/BMC-sweepers-demand-wages/articleshow/2189934.cms: AN ARTICLE IN TIMES OF INDIA 10JULY 2007
BMC sweepers demand wagesTNN | Jul 10, 2007, 01.25AM IST MUMBAI: One would think that conservancy workers are at the bottom of the heap when it comes to menial labourers. But even amongst them, there are a few who are the worst of the lot.
While a PIL in the high court on the high mortality rate amongst them has resulted in a series of reforms for civic conservancy workers, those doing the same job on a contract basis continue to get a raw deal. Over 500 such workers have been clearing the muck off city's streets without having been paid a single penny for last two to four months. On Tuesday all such workers will march to the civic chief's bungalow to demand their wages.
As per BMC norms, contract labourers must be paid a minimum wage of Rs 3,937 per month as against the Rs 8,930 paid to those employed with the BMC. Such workers are also not eligible for paid holidays, medical facilities, provident fund and similar benefits enjoyed by all BMC staffers. However, even the basic minimum pay is now been denied to them.
"In H-east ward (Bandra, Khar) there are 18 contract workers who have not been paid their dues for the last four months making it difficult for us to make ends meet. When we confronted the contractor, he threw up his hands stating that the BMC is yet to clear his bills," said Yellapa Jadhav, a labourer from the H-east ward. He added that the local ward office on its part state that they are facing problems with releasing bills due to the new SAP programme which has been put in place as part of BMC's computerisation plans.
Similar complaints of non-payment of dues are also common in Andheri (east and west), Ghatkopar, Malad, Bhandup and Malad. "We had received complaint on this issue 10 days back but by now it should have been sorted out. If not, it needs to be investigated," said RR Markandeya who is in-charge of the BMC's solid waste management department.
"We want an end to the constant problem of workers not even being paid their minimum wages; most of them get only between 1800 to Rs 2,400 when they should actually be getting Rs 3,937," said Milind Ranade, leader of the Kachara Vahatuk Shramik Sangh (KVSS). Following complaints of malpractice in payment, the BMC had issued a circular in September 2005 which made it compulsory for contractors to pay workers in the presence of civic officials.
The BMC had also ordered that payment should be made by a cross cheque by the 10th of each month. But the reforms have remained only on paper for those on contract even as their counterparts in the BMC have begun to reap the benefits of regular medical tests, protective gears, insurance policies among a slew of other reforms thanks to a court case on the issue.
BMC sweepers demand wagesTNN | Jul 10, 2007, 01.25AM IST MUMBAI: One would think that conservancy workers are at the bottom of the heap when it comes to menial labourers. But even amongst them, there are a few who are the worst of the lot.
While a PIL in the high court on the high mortality rate amongst them has resulted in a series of reforms for civic conservancy workers, those doing the same job on a contract basis continue to get a raw deal. Over 500 such workers have been clearing the muck off city's streets without having been paid a single penny for last two to four months. On Tuesday all such workers will march to the civic chief's bungalow to demand their wages.
As per BMC norms, contract labourers must be paid a minimum wage of Rs 3,937 per month as against the Rs 8,930 paid to those employed with the BMC. Such workers are also not eligible for paid holidays, medical facilities, provident fund and similar benefits enjoyed by all BMC staffers. However, even the basic minimum pay is now been denied to them.
"In H-east ward (Bandra, Khar) there are 18 contract workers who have not been paid their dues for the last four months making it difficult for us to make ends meet. When we confronted the contractor, he threw up his hands stating that the BMC is yet to clear his bills," said Yellapa Jadhav, a labourer from the H-east ward. He added that the local ward office on its part state that they are facing problems with releasing bills due to the new SAP programme which has been put in place as part of BMC's computerisation plans.
Similar complaints of non-payment of dues are also common in Andheri (east and west), Ghatkopar, Malad, Bhandup and Malad. "We had received complaint on this issue 10 days back but by now it should have been sorted out. If not, it needs to be investigated," said RR Markandeya who is in-charge of the BMC's solid waste management department.
"We want an end to the constant problem of workers not even being paid their minimum wages; most of them get only between 1800 to Rs 2,400 when they should actually be getting Rs 3,937," said Milind Ranade, leader of the Kachara Vahatuk Shramik Sangh (KVSS). Following complaints of malpractice in payment, the BMC had issued a circular in September 2005 which made it compulsory for contractors to pay workers in the presence of civic officials.
The BMC had also ordered that payment should be made by a cross cheque by the 10th of each month. But the reforms have remained only on paper for those on contract even as their counterparts in the BMC have begun to reap the benefits of regular medical tests, protective gears, insurance policies among a slew of other reforms thanks to a court case on the issue.
Rising from the Ashes
http://proxied.changemakers.net/studio/02july/kishore4.cfm
Ranade identified the lack of clean drinking water as a serious problem that was simple and tangible enough for the workers to remedy through their first collective act. In 1996, more than 100 waste collectors went on a hunger strike, demanding that the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) make drinking water available in the dumps. The BMC conceded, but did not respond to the protestors' call for bathing facilities. Ranade and the waste collectors had demonstrated their power. Encouraged by this success, they established Kachra Vahtuk Sanghash Samiti (KVSS – "Waste Collectors and Transporters Union"), a labor union for waste collectors who work at the BMC's various dumping grounds. Ranade's tactics were 1) community organizing to build solidarity among the waste collectors, 2) organizing collective action to improve their work conditions, 3) joining forces with other labor rights groups, and 4) pushing the legal system to enforce waste collectors' constitutional rights.
As a result, the waste collectors' mindset is beginning to change, Ranade said. They no longer assume their status cannot be changed. Rather, they are determined to improve it and see the value of getting organized to develop new ways to help themselves and more fully participate in society.
KVSS works in all of Mumbai's 32 municipal wards. In each ward a three-member team coordinates the union's work, holding meetings, resolving conflicts, and maintaining contact with the rest of the organization. Above the ward level, five of the union's seven core committee members are trash collectors. Ranade and his team assembled the committee by choosing workers who know how to solve problems and communicate well. The committee advises the union during emergencies, debates, and negotiations. As Secretary General, Ranade coordinates the wards and communicates with the media, lawyers, doctors, mainstream union leaders, and partner organizations.
Ranade and laborers: getting organized Training is an important bridge connecting the union to bridges to India's mainstream labor advocates: human rights lawyers, occupational health specialists, counselors and India's labor movement at large. Ranade organizes weekly training in which workers from different wards study labor law, India's industrial court, bookkeeping, and how to manage the media. The training draws expertise from a variety of people and organizations. These include the Human Rights Law network; the Navjeevan Society, which offers counseling, literacy, and health care; Contract Parishad, a neighborhood network of all contract laborers; the Bombay Occupational Health and Safety Center; and the Tata Institute of Social Service, which places student volunteers with KVSS.
KVSS also addresses serious problems that affect the workers, including alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence and a literacy rate that is barely 8 percent. With support from the Somaiya Trust and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, it has established de-addiction centers for workers, and it helps connect workers who have alcohol problems with Alcoholics Anonymous. KVSS members have established a peer counseling project and participate in a citywide food security program for the urban poor. As a result of their efforts, domestic violence in workers' families is decreasing, Ranade said. "We believed that the union should focus not just on financial benefits, but on the quality of life of the worker, helping them gain in self-confidence and to develop a positive self image," he said. "Drinking, gambling, and such addictions should be brought under control. Slowly, the workers began to accept this. No one came to work drunk. If they did, they would stand outside – they wouldn't enter the office. It was a collective effort, and everyone cooperated. We helped by giving social sanction to the effort."
"We run a Nasha Mukti Kendra ("Freedom From Drink Center"). If someone drinks too much, his salary is given to the union representative who hands it over to the family. Those who drink too much are now afraid of a complaint against them, so they control the habit."
Because 11 contract laborers have died from accidents and tuberculosis during the past year, KVSS has helped arrange adoption of 23 children from these families and to pay for their continued schooling. Its Mahila Counseling Center helps the widowed wives of these workers.
KVSS discovered that more than 100 workers were not given ration cards, which entitles the poor to essential food and kerosene oil for cooking stoves at reduced rates in special government-run shops. They also serve as identity cards. Instead, these workers were forced to pay bribes to get their quota of food and oil. KVSS helped them get ration cards.
Inside the homes of the men who work as waste collectors in Mumbai: each tiny space costs as much as 700 rupees (US$14) per month plus about another 200 rupees (US$4) for electricity KVSS is addressing the problem of loan sharking. "Private moneylenders squeeze 10 to 25 percent interest per month from the workers," Ranade said. "If a large sum of 2,000 rupees (US$40) or so is borrowed, the interest goes up to 300 percent. After four to five years the interest itself is a huge amount.
"One incident took place in Bhandukot. The workers gathered. The moneylender was told that henceforth he would get no interest, just the capital amount due. He had already received enough interest on the loan. It was the goodness of the workers that despite the large sum already paid in interest, they were still willing to repay the capital amount. This happened because the workers made a joint attempt. Now our union is considering the idea of forming a cooperative credit society for the workers."
For waste collectors, daily life in the slums of Mumbai is as squalid and grim as their daily grind
Ranade identified the lack of clean drinking water as a serious problem that was simple and tangible enough for the workers to remedy through their first collective act. In 1996, more than 100 waste collectors went on a hunger strike, demanding that the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) make drinking water available in the dumps. The BMC conceded, but did not respond to the protestors' call for bathing facilities. Ranade and the waste collectors had demonstrated their power. Encouraged by this success, they established Kachra Vahtuk Sanghash Samiti (KVSS – "Waste Collectors and Transporters Union"), a labor union for waste collectors who work at the BMC's various dumping grounds. Ranade's tactics were 1) community organizing to build solidarity among the waste collectors, 2) organizing collective action to improve their work conditions, 3) joining forces with other labor rights groups, and 4) pushing the legal system to enforce waste collectors' constitutional rights.
As a result, the waste collectors' mindset is beginning to change, Ranade said. They no longer assume their status cannot be changed. Rather, they are determined to improve it and see the value of getting organized to develop new ways to help themselves and more fully participate in society.
- KVSS wins an historic court ruling; becomes a political force in India
- A body becomes a potent symbol – fighting for dignity, even in death
KVSS works in all of Mumbai's 32 municipal wards. In each ward a three-member team coordinates the union's work, holding meetings, resolving conflicts, and maintaining contact with the rest of the organization. Above the ward level, five of the union's seven core committee members are trash collectors. Ranade and his team assembled the committee by choosing workers who know how to solve problems and communicate well. The committee advises the union during emergencies, debates, and negotiations. As Secretary General, Ranade coordinates the wards and communicates with the media, lawyers, doctors, mainstream union leaders, and partner organizations.
Ranade and laborers: getting organized Training is an important bridge connecting the union to bridges to India's mainstream labor advocates: human rights lawyers, occupational health specialists, counselors and India's labor movement at large. Ranade organizes weekly training in which workers from different wards study labor law, India's industrial court, bookkeeping, and how to manage the media. The training draws expertise from a variety of people and organizations. These include the Human Rights Law network; the Navjeevan Society, which offers counseling, literacy, and health care; Contract Parishad, a neighborhood network of all contract laborers; the Bombay Occupational Health and Safety Center; and the Tata Institute of Social Service, which places student volunteers with KVSS.
KVSS also addresses serious problems that affect the workers, including alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence and a literacy rate that is barely 8 percent. With support from the Somaiya Trust and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, it has established de-addiction centers for workers, and it helps connect workers who have alcohol problems with Alcoholics Anonymous. KVSS members have established a peer counseling project and participate in a citywide food security program for the urban poor. As a result of their efforts, domestic violence in workers' families is decreasing, Ranade said. "We believed that the union should focus not just on financial benefits, but on the quality of life of the worker, helping them gain in self-confidence and to develop a positive self image," he said. "Drinking, gambling, and such addictions should be brought under control. Slowly, the workers began to accept this. No one came to work drunk. If they did, they would stand outside – they wouldn't enter the office. It was a collective effort, and everyone cooperated. We helped by giving social sanction to the effort."
"We run a Nasha Mukti Kendra ("Freedom From Drink Center"). If someone drinks too much, his salary is given to the union representative who hands it over to the family. Those who drink too much are now afraid of a complaint against them, so they control the habit."
Because 11 contract laborers have died from accidents and tuberculosis during the past year, KVSS has helped arrange adoption of 23 children from these families and to pay for their continued schooling. Its Mahila Counseling Center helps the widowed wives of these workers.
KVSS discovered that more than 100 workers were not given ration cards, which entitles the poor to essential food and kerosene oil for cooking stoves at reduced rates in special government-run shops. They also serve as identity cards. Instead, these workers were forced to pay bribes to get their quota of food and oil. KVSS helped them get ration cards.
Inside the homes of the men who work as waste collectors in Mumbai: each tiny space costs as much as 700 rupees (US$14) per month plus about another 200 rupees (US$4) for electricity KVSS is addressing the problem of loan sharking. "Private moneylenders squeeze 10 to 25 percent interest per month from the workers," Ranade said. "If a large sum of 2,000 rupees (US$40) or so is borrowed, the interest goes up to 300 percent. After four to five years the interest itself is a huge amount.
"One incident took place in Bhandukot. The workers gathered. The moneylender was told that henceforth he would get no interest, just the capital amount due. He had already received enough interest on the loan. It was the goodness of the workers that despite the large sum already paid in interest, they were still willing to repay the capital amount. This happened because the workers made a joint attempt. Now our union is considering the idea of forming a cooperative credit society for the workers."
For waste collectors, daily life in the slums of Mumbai is as squalid and grim as their daily grind