Madras HC declares strike call issued by 108 ambulance unions as illegal

CHENNAI: Declaring a strike call issued by two unions of 108 ambulance workers in Tamil Nadu last year as illegal, the Madras high court has imposed Rs 10,000 as a cost on them. The sum shall be paid by the associations to a petitioner who was constrained to knock court doors questioning the ambulance drivers’ call for an indefinite strike.
“The petition is allowed, with a cost of Rs 10,000 to be paid by 108 Ambulance Workers Union Tamil Nadu and 108 Ambulance Workers Welfare Union Tamil Nadu (each Rs 5,000) to the petitioner, within 10 days, failing which, the Madurai district collector shall take action as per the provisions of Tamil Nadu Revenue Recovery Act,” a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad said on Friday.
The issue pertains to a call issued by the associations for an indefinite strike on the Diwali eve in 2018, demanding implementation of their charter of demands, including pay hike. Aggrieved, P Selvarajan approached the high court seeking to declare the strike as illegal.
The petitioner contended that GVK EMRI is operating 930 ambulances and 41 bike ambulances in all 32 districts of the state and has employed more than 4750 persons. They have been providing the service since 2008 and have been declared as a Public Utility Services under Section 2 (n) of the Industrial Disputes Act.
He further submitted that every year, during Diwali the unions have issued strike notices to pressurise their demands and in the current year also, they have proposed to go on strike, which should be prevented. Pursuing various judgements submitted by the petitioner and the strike notice issued by the associations, the bench said, “The unions have issued strike notices contrary to the statutory provisions, government order and the orders of this court.”
The court then declared the strike notice as illegal and imposed a cost on the associations.