Waste Management Workers Exploited, Lack Facilities for Basic Hygiene: Arthur Babayan

In Yerevan, the waste management sector, a topic widely discussed but not yet established, is marked by the exploitation of its workers. This was stated by Arthur Babayan, the former head of the waste management division of the Yerevan municipality, in an interview with 24News.

"The primary issue regarding waste management is that all employees of the institution are exploited in the broadest sense. We have night workers who have never received night pay, they work beyond their working hours without any compensation. There is not a single place in the administrative districts where waste management employees can at least wash up after finishing work. Legally, there should be restrooms—can we create a space for these people to wash up or not? There are female cleaners who do not even have the opportunity to change their clothes and do so under bridges or in building corners," Babayan noted.

"When I raised this issue, I was dismissed from my job. Numerous similar problems have been highlighted, and a criminal case was initiated. A criminal case has been opened regarding various abuses within our institution related to the sale of millions of drams worth of replaced truck wheels. The wheels were actually supposed to be sent to the front lines, but they were sold from our institution, except for a few very small batches that were sent during the 44-day war. There were numerous similar incidents. I was the head of the institution during the hottest period of 2019, and I managed to address the city's waste issue with my employees. Since October 20, I have been on a COVID-19 sick leave, and on October 22, I was dismissed for a full day of absence. However, I have been on sick leave since October 20. In my case, the Labor and Health Inspection found my dismissal to be unlawful. I was unlawfully dismissed, and no steps have been taken to restore my employment obligations. Additionally, I have yet to receive my final settlement. There is a deadline for appealing to the court, and I am waiting to see if there will be a reasonable resolution; if not, I will go to court," he continued.

According to him, after raising the issue of alleged abuses, the municipal inspection department entered for checks. "This was due to the request of the leader of the 'My Step' faction, Armen Galjyan. Prior to this, I had raised the issue multiple times both with the head of the communal department, where I stated that we have problems and such disgraceful theft, and personally with the head of the mayor's office. However, I have not seen the mayor to this day. Armen Galjyan demanded that the inspection department conduct checks. The inspection department said that 'we came to inspect under the mayor's instruction,' but the inspection department found numerous violations amounting to millions of drams in misappropriations," Babayan concluded.