Chennai: Taking a serious view of the strike called by certain transport unions, the Madras High Court today directed striking workers to get back to work or "face consequences", including termination and contempt of court.

"There will be an interim order restraining the transport workers, especially, the drivers and conductors, from taking recourse to strike," the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose said.

The striking workers shall forthwith report for duty, it said.

"Any worker refraining from attending to work or performing duty shall do so at their own risk of the consequences thereof including termination of their services and penalisation for gross contempt of this court," the bench said.

The bench passed the interim order on a PIL moved by R Varaaki seeking direction to the state government to take immediate steps to settle the issue and restore public order.

Admitting the plea, the court said, "The transport workers provide essential public utility services. There can be no doubt that all employees are entitled to legitimately agitate their grievance." 

"However, strike calls like this to press nominal demands of Rs 600 per month or so cannot be countenanced. The state is bound to protect the right of free movement of citizens." 

The rights are ensured by the state through a machinery of functionaries including the transport workers, the court said.

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) workers could not resort to such flash strikes without any prior intimation, causing trouble to the public, it said.

The court said recourse to lightning strikes without notice leads to the consequence of denying the citizens of their right to free movement and is "clearly illegal and against public interest." 

The bench then ordered notices to the trade unions and posted the PIL to January 8 for further hearing.

The matter pertains to the strike called by certain transport unions across Tamil Nadu over wage-related issues.

The strike entered its second day today.

When the plea came up, Advocate General Vijay Narayan informed the court that 32 unions had already signed the settlement proposed by the government and that only 14 were on strike.

He said that the latest settlement has been the highest increase compared to the previous settlements.

"The benefit given to drivers varies from Rs 2,684 to Rs 10,332 per month, depending on the length of services. In case of conductors, the increase varies from Rs 2,706 to Rs 11,361 per month." 

The settlement talks also finalised increase of the scale of pay from Rs 6,900 to Rs 17,700 for new entrants as drivers by merger of grade and similarly for all other categories using a specific factor, he said.

He said for employees who entered service after 2013 and up to 2016, it was decided to give a special increment of 3 per cent. This would benefit 32,000 employees.

With office-goers and students bearing the brunt of the stir, Chief Minister K Palaniswami chaired a meeting of ministers and senior officials today to take stock of the situation.

Opposition parties, including the DMK and the Left parties, besides actor Kamal Haasan, urged the government to put an end to the stalemate by holding talks with the trade unions.

CITU leader A Sounderrajan, who took part in the talks with the government yesterday, said "not even 10 per cent" of the buses were being operated across Tamil Nadu.

Further, seven unions had joined the strike today, taking the number to 17, he added.

Ten unions had announced the strike yesterday, after the wage-related talks with the government failed.