Of the 79 associations under the Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations-Government Employees’ Organisations (JACTTO-GEO), 19 of them carried out a strike on Thursday.
The members demanded that the old pension scheme be brought back in place of the contributory pension scheme. Removal of anomalies in the implementation of the Pay Commission recommendations in 2006 and a 20% interim relief were the other demands.
Addressing a gathering of teachers and government workers, State president of the Tamil Nadu Asiriyar Munnetra Sangam K. Thyagarajan said the government had ignored their pleas in the past citing political uncertainty.“We have been demanding timely implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and restoration of the old pension scheme. The government should resolve these issues. We were waiting for the government to prevent us from launching this indefinite strike. But there was no assurance from the government, which is why we were forced to strike work today,” he said.
While JACTTO-GEO had earlier called for an indefinite strike from September 7, a number of associations withdrew following talks with Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and a few ministers.
In a separate statement, Mr. Thirunavukkarasar said the government should accede to the legitimate demands of its employees instead of trying to divide the organisation.
He said Tamil Nadu lagged behind in implementing the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.