TN secondary teachers commence protest seeking pay parity

CHENNAI: The Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers' Association (SSTA) has commenced its first phase of protest by pinning tags demanding 'equal pay for equal work' across Tamil Nadu.

In the first phase, 20,000 affected teachers will go to work, highlighting their demands on Monday. In the second phase, a rally will be held at the district headquarters on December 5. In the third phase, a continuous protest is planned from December 24.

Demanding that the Tamil Nadu government address pay disparity for close to two decades now, the SSTA members have been continuously staging protests.

The association members say that the DMK during the election campaign in 2021 promised to fulfil the demand and mentioned the same in its election manifesto number 311. However, despite frequent protests and requests, the government had ignored them.

Nearly 20,000 SGTs have been requesting both the AIADMK and DMK governments to address the pay disparity faced by teachers appointed after June 2009, of Rs 3,170 for the same amount of work as those appointed on or before May 31, 2009. The teachers also claim that in December 2022, these teachers were severely affected by the seventh pay commission, as the pay gap further widened.

Meanwhile, in July, the education department appointed 2,457 new Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs). In the budget session held in March, the government, through direct recruitment, has also announced to appoint 1,721 postgraduate teachers and 841 graduate teachers for 2025-26.