Madhyapur Thimi, July 19:

Agitating sanitary workers said today that they would stop collecting solid waste from tomorrow if their demands were not met.

Demanding increase in pay and perks, the workers had organised a strike yesterday. However, they cleaned up the streets today after an agreement was reached to organise a meeting and sort out the matter tomorrow. Among other things, the workers are demanding hike in salary and weekly off.

According to Tulsi Bhakta Tako, community chief at the Madhyapur Thimi municipality, a minor misunderstanding forced them to launch a strike.

He said they launched a strike after the municipality prevented a worker from doing his duty as he remained absent for two months without notifying the municipality.

“This issue is not a big one. Madhyapur Thimi is a small municipality. We have invited workers for discussion on Sunday. I think we will solve the problem,” said Govinda Singh Bhandari, executive officer of the municipality.

Twenty sanitation workers are working on daily wage basis at the municipality. Following a dispute with the municipality, workers halted garbage collection yesterday. “If tomorrow’s meeting fails to address our demands, we will stop collecting garbage again,” said Moti Bahadur Poude, president of Nepal Free Sanitation Workers’ Union Madhyapur Thimi.