Shimla: In a major relief for residents of the state capital, employees of the SEHB Society have ended their seven-day strike after reaching an agreement with the Shimla Municipal Corporation on Thursday. The workers will resume their duties from Friday, and regular waste collection from households across the city will restart.
Office bearers of the SEHB Society Employees’ Union held a meeting with Shimla Mayor Surendra Chauhan on Thursday, during which a consensus was reached on all their demands. According to the agreement, a decision regarding the reinstatement of the 10 percent salary increment, which had been withheld earlier, will be taken during the Annual General Meeting scheduled for June 4. The termination orders issued to 41 employees will be revoked, and the workers will also be granted 15 days of special leave. Additionally, the benefits of the ‘4-9-14’ promotion scheme will be extended to those sanitation workers who were previously left out.
A representative of the SEHB Employees’ Union confirmed that an agreement covering all their demands had been reached. He announced that the strike has been officially called off and all employees will return to their respective duties starting Friday. Consequently, waste collection services from all households throughout the city will resume as per schedule.
The employees of the SEHB Society had been on strike for the past seven days, leading to garbage piling up in various parts of Shimla city and causing significant inconvenience to residents. Even on Thursday morning, the employees staged a demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Earlier talks held on Tuesday had failed to yield any result, but Thursday’s meeting proved successful in resolving the impasse.
The end of the strike has brought much-needed relief to the people of Shimla, with normal sanitation services expected to be restored shortly.
