Vaidehi Naik: The journalists should ask this question to the Mayor. On what grounds did the workers call off the strike? I want this clarification from the Mayor.
HERALD: Do you think this action of corporation in withdrawing the strike will lead to long term solution? Or don’t you think it will be a repeat in the next couple of weeks or months?
VN: I have just one question to ask the Mayor. How do we trust him that he has got an assurance from the government and that he met the chief secretary in this regard? I don’t understand how did the union leaders believe the Mayor and called off the strike? How could they believe the Mayor blindly? I wonder whether the strike would be repeated. The city will once again stink.
HERALD: How many times in the past year have there been strikes called by these workers on the eve of a festival?
VN: It happens every festival. This Ganesh Chaturthi Panjimites faced the same issue. The workers refused to collect garbage and withdrew only on the eve of the festival. The same was during the 2013 Christmas. Why the Mayor waits for the last minute to settle the issue?
I also have a complaint that going on strike every now and then is not acceptable when this is an essential service. It is up to the government to decide whether the service should be regularized or not.
HERALD: Is there any way to check the quality of work put in by these workers?
VN: This is the work of the administration.
