Friday, Jul 25, 2003
Friday, Jul 25, 2003 |
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Tamil Nadu
By V. Jayanth
Though several key issues, including salary for the strike period, remain unresolved, the employees have been reduced to a state in which they are not even prepared to discuss them in the open. "We will be glad to resume work and end this period of uncertainty," says an office superintendent, who has "gone through hell these three weeks". At the Secretariat and in government offices, groups of employees exchanged notes this afternoon. But they were not in a mood to `celebrate', nor did they want to gather in large numbers to discuss the development. They were eagerly awaiting the court ruling and seemed "greatly relieved" at the turn of events today. Most of them have not recovered from the `shock' of dismissals and the "real threat" of losing their jobs. They admitted that the "strike had been broken" by the Government's "tough stance and unrelenting position on the demands". They were equally stunned by the Supreme Court observations, declaring the strike `illegal' and asking the sacked employees to tender an unconditional apology as well as give an `undertaking' not to go on strike again. Except for the relief that they must be reinstated and the direction that they report for duty on July 25, they got "very little". In the run-up to the strike, the employees and their unions/associations had placed before the Government a whole set of demands including restoration of some benefits they enjoyed earlier — bonus, encashment of earned leave, payment of arrears and gratuity in full in cash (instead of in savings instruments) — and dearness allowance on a par with the Central Government employees. The Government made it clear that parity with Central employees was not possible, but conceded some demands on full payment in cash. In view of resource constraints, there was no question of payment of bonus or encashment of leave, top officials told the employees at meetings. So, when the employees return to work tomorrow, their demands may not re-surface. They are happy to have got the jobs back and all they want to know is whether they will get their salary for this month — will the strike period be adjusted against their leave? Most of the leaders of unions, after their release from prison — on the order of the Madras High Court — swiftly changed tack and left it to the "magnanimity and verdict" of the Chief Minister. A few individual unions announced their decision to pull out of the federation of JACTTEO-GEO and COTA-GEO, if only to reassure the administration that they were not `trade unionist'. But a CITU spokesman said: "The State Government may have broken the strike. But the issues raised in the High Court remain unresolved. We will continue to raise these issues and seek legal redress. For us, the problem has not ended, but might have just begun". While government employees associations in other States conveyed their support to and solidarity with the sacked staff here, the federation of Central Government employees held a demonstration in the city protesting the "undemocratic act" of the Tamil Nadu Government.
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