Regularisation of APCOS workers demanded

Eluru: Municipal Workers & Employees Union (affiliated to CITU) State General Secretary K Umamaheswara Rao has demanded that the measures to abolish APCOS and tie municipal workers to private agencies be withdrawn and that the municipal workers of the Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS) be made permanent.

As part of the state-wide call of the Municipal Workers & Employees Federation, municipal workers staged a dharna at the Eluru Municipal Corporation office on Tuesday.

Umamaheswara Rao, the chief guest at the event, criticised the coalition government for creating worse conditions for workers compared to the previous YSRCP government. He condemned the abolition of APCOS, which he argued would tie municipal workers to private agencies, leading to forced labor and a lack of guarantees for salaries, provident funds, and minimum wages.

He warned that if these demands are not met, a large-scale agitation would occur, for which the government would be accountable. He called for the implementation of various promises, including increased ex-gratia payments, raising the retirement age to 62, higher salaries for engineering workers, increased cremation expenses, gratuity payments, and the reopening of General Provident Fund accounts.

Rao asserted that engineering workers’ salaries should match those of sanitation workers, as previously promised. He stated that municipal workers are ready for an indefinite strike if their issues are not resolved.

Municipal Workers and Employees Union leader B Somaiah, Laveti Krishna Rao, Anguluru Janubabu, Bangaru Venkateswara Rao, Bandi Bhavani, Naramamidi Nagamani, Nakka Bhagyalakshmi, Bangaru Seetha, Kantamma, Marianna, Allam Hanumantha Rao, Tananki George, A Ramakrishna, Allam Jyothi, Durga, Samrajyam, Josephine and others were present.