Tamil Nadu teachers announce indefinite strike from January 6 after talks with state govt fail

The Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations and Government Employees’ Organisations (JACTTO-GEO) has called for an indefinite strike after its talks with the Tamil Nadu government failed to address its demands.

The decision to hold a statewide protest was taken after a series of meetings with the officials. At a state-level coordination committee meeting held in Chennai on November 25, JACTTO-GEO resolved to intensify agitation over its 10-point charter of demands.

In line with the decision, a large-scale protest was organised on December 13 at district headquarters across the state, with the participation of teachers, government employees, and staff.

After the announcement of an indefinite strike, a meeting was held on December 22 with the chief secretary, finance secretary, and school education secretary regarding JACTTO-GEO’s 10-point charter of demands. However, teachers said that the talks failed to address their demands and ended in “great disappointment”.

The teachers’ union said that the meeting was disappointing, as key demands, including revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), filling of vacant posts, fixing promotion and seniority anomalies, and equitable pay scales, remained unaddressed.

Following the meeting with Union ministers, the state-level coordination committee was convened on December 22 and unanimously decided to proceed with the previously announced protests.

As part of the agitation, a massive protest conference is scheduled to be held at district headquarters on December 27, where participants will wear black badges to express their disagreement with the state government’s approach. Following this, an indefinite strike will be organised from January 6.

JACTTO-GEO also criticised the state government for calling meetings in the name of talks with teachers’ and government employees’ organisations without resolving the issues raised. They also condemned the action of the Tamil Nadu government’s Human Resources Management Department for bypassing JACTTO-GEO and holding talks with select organisations supportive of the government.