Just work or strike, Can’t indulge in both; High court schools government employees

Strikes and hartal are no new in the political milieu of Kerala. No such rules are in place that forbid any such organization their right to exercise strike or turnout from work. But the light should be also shed on the service guidelines issued for government employees and teachers, which terms any such participation (such as in a strike) a violation. But for eons, nobody batted an eyelid when teachers and other government officials made it to the streets to strike for varied reasons.

It was C. Achutha Menon who brought in a landmark rule that states, no salary is to be paid on days of a strike called, which translates to no work, no pay. But throughout the years the said rule just remained embossed in books rather than working realities on the ground. But now the high court has echoed the views of the late Achutha Menon, thereby putting the union leaders and other hartal enthusiasts into a mire. The court lashed out heavily at government employees participating in strikes. The court pointed out that paying salaries on protest days to employees acts as an incentive for them to go on strike again. The court put the onus on the state government and ordered it to take stringent actions without lax.

The high court’s scathing observation is not a first, as in 2021, the same court pointed to the inhumane nature of calling strikes and disrupting people's everyday life. In an affidavit to the court, the government revealed they blocked salaries to nearly 150000 employees who participated in strikes.

After the high court orders, many such irate comments from union leaders caught headlines. Unions that ensure the working class lives a decent life can’t be termed redundant. But repeatedly indulging in strikes and collecting their salaries on those days of the strike is a collective shame to the class these unions represent. Seeing how things are unraveling, the dies-non system will soon come into effect in Kerala and, maybe then the working class will thrive.