Punjab Sanitation Workers’ Strike Ends After Government Accepts All Demands

The Punjab government has accepted all the demands raised by the Punjab Sanitation Workers’ Union, bringing an end to the strike that had been ongoing for the past several days. Following the agreement, the union has decided to withdraw the strike across all Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, and Nagar Panchayats in the state. Punjab Local Government Minister Harjot Singh Bains announced the development, stating that the government had agreed to the union’s demands. He said the union has decided to end the strike and restore sanitation services across Punjab within the next 24 hours. The decision to call off the strike was also confirmed by Ramesh Kumar, senior leader of the Punjab Sanitation Workers’ Union, who said the union had withdrawn its protest after the government accepted all of its demands. Harjot Singh Bains said that sanitation workers and sewermen recruited on a contractual basis in 2021 will be regularised without any conditions. He added that these employees will receive salary scales and allowances in accordance with the rules applicable to Urban Local Bodies. The minister further announced that sanitation workers and sewermen who have completed three consecutive years of service under outsourcing arrangements will be brought under the contract system. In addition, their wages will be increased to ₹20,500 with effect from August 1, 2026. He also stated that the government had accepted the union’s other demands, following which the Punjab Sanitation Workers’ Union announced the withdrawal of its strike. Senior union leader Ramesh Kumar said that since the Punjab government had accepted all the demands raised by the union, it had decided to officially withdraw the strike, paving the way for the resumption of sanitation services across the state.