Kerala HC bars Govt staff from participating in national strike

The Kerala high court on Monday barred government employees from participating in the 48-hour nationwide shutdown called by trade unions. It directed the government to issue an order on this immediately. The court said government employees do not come under the ambit of workers and their participation in the strike is against service rules. A division bench of Chief Justice S Mani Kumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly, while hearing a petition of activist Chandrachoodan Nair, observed the employees’ participation in the strike is illegal. It added they will be ineligible for pay for the days they abstain from work. The court directed the government to declare no work, no pay. Employees absent in such cases were earlier considered to be on leave and given full pay.

Nair moved the court asking it to declare the participation of government employees in the strike unconstitutional. He accused the government of encouraging employees to stay away from work. He added it would later tweak norms to ensure full salaries. The court said the government cannot pay employees for remaining absent during the strike. All India Trade Union Congress leader K P Rajendran called the court’s observation unfortunate. He added it should have issued directions to the Union government and not the poor workers. The state law department has sought advice from the director-general of prosecutions and is likely to move the Supreme Court against the high court order.

Meanwhile, in Kerala, normal life was completely thrown out of gear following the 48-hour nation-wide strike called by trade unions in support of their various demands.  Shops, business establishments, offices of private firms, and markets across the state remained closed in most places, while state-run and private buses remained off the road. Private vehicles, largely two-wheelers were seen plying. The strike did not affect the functioning of the software parks in the state. The strike did not affect Pallikkara, a town near Kizhakkambalam in Ernakulam district, following a High Court order to provide protection to the traders who wished to open their shops. Many passengers who arrived in the state from different parts of the country had to spend several hours at bus and railway stations due to the non-availability of other means of transport. As per media reports almost all government offices and businesses remained shut. Only 32 out of 4,824 employees reported to work at the state secretariat.