Chennai: The transport strike in Tamil Nadu will continue into its sixth day on Tuesday with the workers showing no signs of relenting despite their minister warning of "severe" action unless they returned to work, while the Madras high court appeared sympathetic to the employees' cause and upset over the government's handling of the situation. The first bench, headed by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, told the government no worker should be terminated without the leave of the court but also made clear that the strike is unacceptable.
Passing further interim orders on a PIL from Varaaki, the bench on Monday said considering the plight of the ordinary people who were constrained to use public transport, and therefore, really affected by recourse to lightning strike and/or flash strikes, it passed an interim order restraining the transport corporation workers and especially the drivers and conductors from taking recourse to strike. By taking recourse to strike, it meant taking recourse to lightning strike without adequate notice, the bench added.
The bench said its attention has been drawn by the unions to other issues pending between the Unions and the transport corporations/the government, including the issue of non-release of provident fund deducted from the wages of the workers, as also other dues for which deductions were made from the salaries/wage of the workers. “We are informed that the issue of withholding of provident fund is being monitored by specially constituted division bench of Justices S.Manikumar and M.Govindaraj. We deem it appropriate to transfer this PIL also to the aforesaid division bench with a request to decide the matter expeditiously. All connected applications including applications for vacating the interim order be placed before the aforesaid bench”, the bench added.
The bench said transport services provided by the government were used by the ordinary people and not people belonging to upper echelons of society. Public transport services provided by these corporations do not affect top government officials or top officials of corporations or others responsible for decisions, but very ordinary people who have little option but to use public transport. It is ordinary families who suffer, the bench added.
