State Government employees in almost all departments boycotted work and more than 10,000 of them took to the streets on Tuesday in response to a State-wide strike call given by the Joint Action Committee of Tamilnadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTO-GEO).

According to sources, around 5,000 employees from various government offices and nearly 5,500 teachers from State Government-run and aided schools with affiliation to the JACTO-GEO protested in Pollachi, Valparai, Mettupalayam, Sulur, Annur and Kinathukadavu.

The Coimbatore city too saw a protest in front of the Coimbatore South Taluk office. The sources said that around 50 % of the employees from various departments and nearly 50 per cent teachers boycotted work.

Around 2,500 of them, including nearly 1,000 women employees, participated in the protest.

District representatives of JACTO-GEO M. Rajasekaran, V. Senthilkumar and S. Ganesh Kumar led the protests.

C. Arasu, member, district high-level committee, JACTO-GEO, said they had only three demands - the State Government should give up the new contributory pension scheme and revert to the old pension scheme. The new pension scheme was not beneficial to employees and kin of employees who had died in harness did not stand to gain.

The employees were unaware where the money deducted towards pension was and did not want to continue in the new scheme.

V. Senthilkumar said the employees wanted the State Government to implement the Eighth Pay Commission and that too after removing the anomalies in the Seventh Pay Commission. In the interim period, the government should pay 20 % as relief.

Todays was a token strike. If the Government did not heed to their demands, the employees would go on an indefinite strike from September 7, the leaders added.

To mitigate the impact of strike, the School Education Department had roped in students of Bachelor of Education, part-time and special teachers to teach students in its schools. It also took help from private school managements.

Around 11,200 employees of various government departments, affiliated to Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations, struck work in the district on Tuesday.

The employees staged a protest in front of the Collectorate to highlight their multiple demands including abolition of contributory pension scheme.

Read more from the original source:

Government employees go on strike - The Hindu