Remember when your mum told you to clean your room — perhaps as a ‘punishment’ or a time-out task? At first, you ignored it, but the warning was enough to get you up and start clearing the mess.

It might have felt like it took forever, and if you were asked to clean properly, which included dusting and sweeping, I can imagine how tedious those moments must have felt. But even then, the best part was knowing it was just for a day.

Now think of those who do this every single morning. They’re already at work before the city wakes up; brooms in hands, quietly walking to their starting points.

Yes, I’m talking about the sweepers and sanitation workers, people whose names we rarely know, whose presence we often overlook. And yet, they are the ones who keep our neighbourhoods, our streets, our cities clean, every single day.

This Labour Day, as we celebrate the workforce that powers our nation, let’s look beyond the polished office spaces, the sparkling floors and the commercial setups. Let’s acknowledge the workforce who clean our filth, indirectly protect our health and bring order to urban chaos.

This is a tribute to all the labourers in the world, particularly the sanitation workers, sweepers and cleaners.

More than just a broom

We all have work to do, kids and youngsters go to school, college and university, and adults head to their offices; but every place needs to be cleaned, and that job is done ‘before’ we even arrive.

Most of the time, no one pays attention to what their street looks like before and after. They take it casually, never noticing how it gets cleaned or who keeps it clean.

Just imagine if there were no sweepers, how much dirt and garbage would pile up? In my opinion, it’s one of the most important jobs, the most significant work that happens everywhere in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most overlooked and thankless jobs.

Frontline, not footnote

When Covid-19 swept through the world, we hailed doctors and nurses as heroes and rightly so! But who disinfected hospitals before and after patients? Who cleaned quarantine centres, isolation wards and infected streets? There were sanitation workers, risking their lives, too. They are frontline workers in every epidemic, flood and garbage crisis. Come rain or storm, they are called to perform their duties.

Not an easy job to do

If you haven’t thought about it before, just take a moment and realise that sanitation workers deal with biological waste, hazardous materials, sharp objects, decaying matter and all kinds of disease-causing germs. They are actually dealing with the filth — without proper protection, training or even basic awareness, especially in our part of the world.

Have you ever seen them wearing gloves, masks, safety boots, things that should be standard? I have never seen one.

I once noticed a dirty piece of cloth tied to a sweeper’s hand and it felt like he was hurt, yet he was doing his work. Because he cleaned our area, I asked him if his hand was okay. What he told me, was heartening and I realised most of us don’t realise that.

He told me that as they usually pick up trash using their own handmade dustpans and brooms, he once grabbed a filthy plastic bag and something pierced through his hand. It had shards of glass that cut his hand badly. Sadly, I realised this poor man had no choice but to return to work, with injuries and all.

It’s not just the physical risks. The emotional toll is heavy too. The constant stigma, the lack of dignity in how people treat them, the absence of job security, healthcare or fair wages, it all weighs down on them. And yet, they show up every day. Unnoticed.

We often speak of heroes, but isn’t heroism about doing what is hard, what is thankless, and still doing it with commitment? Their work is persistent, thankless, but essential. Yet, society ignores them. Sadly, they don’t get respect, no acknowledgement at all.

The cost of cleanliness

Do you want to clean the mess your siblings create every day? Of course, you might but how many times? Even if your parents paid you for it, eventually you’d take your hands off. Why? Because you have a choice. You’re privileged enough to say ‘no’.

But some people don’t have that privilege. They are helpless not because they’re weak, but because they have no choice. They have a living to make, so they pick up the rubbish others throw away, day after day. And because they deal with garbage, they’re treated as untouchables.

Usually, people don’t feel comfortable if a sanitation worker happens to walk nearby. Why? Because they’ve been handling garbage their clothes might carry a foul smell, and naturally, we assume they’re covered in germs, which is also possible. But behaving with everyone in a respectable and decent way is all that every human deserves.

Yes, we humans treat these fellow humans as if they belong to a lesser species, just because their job isn’t considered “respectable”. But in reality, they’re the ones doing the work no one else is willing to do. Doesn’t that deserve more respect than silence or disgust?

What needs to change

Words and tributes are not enough. What’s needed is real change in policies, pay and perception.

• Safety gear which include a pair of mandatory gloves, boots and masks, not just during pandemics but every day.

• They should be given fair wages, not the bare minimum. Their work deserves dignity.

• They must get medical coverage and insurance for high-risk workers.

• Education should be mandatory for their children.

• Sanitation workers should be included in public discussions, city planning and education programmes.

We celebrate cleanliness but ignore the people who make it possible. We say “Cleanliness is half of faith,” yet turn away from the cleaners with disdain. It’s time to ask: do we value the work, or only the status of the worker?

Remember the dignity of labour is not in the title, it is in the effort, the sacrifice, the impact. And sanitation workers, despite being at the very bottom of the social pyramid, carry perhaps the heaviest weight — the waste of an entire society!

This Labour Day, let’s not just honour their labour., but also their lives, because without them, our cities and our health would collapse in a matter of days.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 26th, 2025