Sudden end to a long strike at Kozhikode Collectorate

Kerala NGO Union withdraws strike after talks with Collector

Till around 10.45 a.m. on Tuesday, red flags, banners, boards, and posters greeted those visiting the entrance to the Kozhikode Civil Station leading up to the District Collector’s chamber. Within an hour, they had all gone.

Along with it ended an indefinite strike by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions-affiliated organisation of government staff, the Kerala NGO Union, which lasted over 10 days and affected the functioning of various departments.

The union members withdrew the strike, launched in protest against the transfer of 15 village officers, after District Collector N. Tej Lohit Reddy agreed to revoke the procedure for five of them. Soon after the announcement, they removed all the boards, banners, and posters spread across the area.

The union had on Monday announced that it would strengthen the strike from the next day as two rounds of talks with Mr. Reddy failed to make any headway. The Collector was not willing to concede their demand to cancel the transfer of all the village officers.

The union had claimed that at least nine of them had not completed the mandatory three-year-period for a transfer. This had led to a tussle with the Joint Council of State Service Organisations, the All-India Trade Union Congress-led organisation of government employees, which supported the transfer. The Revenue department is handled by a Communist Party of India Minister.

However, on Tuesday morning, a third round of parleys was held in which Mr. Reddy agreed that five among the 15 officials can remain in their erstwhile offices. NGO Union functionaries later announced that they would work extra hours to make up for the time lost during the strike. There was some confusion thereafter as the NGO Union leaders claimed that the transfer of 10 officials would be revoked, but functionaries of the Joint Council said only five would go back to their former offices.

Meanwhile, K. Jayaprakash, leader of the Joint Council, demanded to know what the union had gained out of the strike. The officials on strike had signed in the registers and then gone on strike. The functioning of the Collectorate had been severely hit for the past many days. Many people were inconvenienced. He demanded that the NGO Union apologise to the people.