Tamil Nadu govt staff to go on strike from Jan 6
As the talks between three state ministers and JACTTO-GEO — a federation of unions of government employees and teachers — and other unions held on Monday over the latter’s 10-point charter of demands failed to make headway, the unions have declared that they would go ahead with their indefinite strike from January 6.
The talks at the secretariat lasted for around three hours. The ministers — EV Velu, Thangam Thennarasu and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi — did not meet the reporters after the meeting. Representatives of a few unions expressed disappointment over the way the talks were held.
The government employees and teachers have been pressing the government to fulfill their demands, particularly the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, pointing out that it was an election promise of the DMK during the 2021 Assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference later in the day, JACTTO-GEO’s three state coordinators — K Baskaran, S Prabhakaran and Theodore Robinson — said they will begin preparatory meetings for the stir on December 27 in all district headquarters and will start their indefinite strike on January 6.
The coordinators said, at the beginning of the talks, the ministers’ team requested them to put forth their demands, and they would revert after discussing them with the chief minister, so that the employees could expect an announcement ahead of the Pongal festival.
“This attitude shocked us since the government knows our demands well, and asking us to repeat the same is like bringing the whole process that lasted for four years back to square one,” they added.