The pains of the street sweeper

Some jobs in India are poor. I have seen people paid low wages to carry rocks on their head, for long hours, in the hot Indian sun. Not for some hidden commercial enterprise, but for government contractors building roads. Others, the most visible, are the street sweepers; who clean the street of its rubbish coating using small brushes. The sweepers often have to bend over with short tools, and their backs appear fixed at near 90 degrees. They work among the traffic, the dust which they kick up, and the pollution. The noise of vehicle horns must be damaging enough. You won't often see a mask, a fluorescent jacket or a long handled brush. The cost of labour is far lower than any of the mechanical sweepers that remove the weekend filth from English cities. I don't know how much they earn, nor how many hours they work, but my suspicion is that these conditions would not excite. This is a fabled torment: there is no progress as waste bins are few and rarely used.

The Conservative party have often stated how health and safety legislation and workers benefits are a drag on the UK economy. Unions provide pointless teabreaks, and workers should sell their rights which are too generous. I suggest any member of the conservative party work as an Indian street sweeper for a month and consider each of the following benefits:
H&S: No illness or injury through work, protective clothing
Minimum rest breaks
Minimum pay
Maximum hours
Sick pay
Pensions

For any other group of people I would suggest an even greater pain watching these labourers at work for a month, but I fear reduced efficiency for Tories