Chennai: The striking Tamil Nadu Government employees and teachers on Friday resumed work following a stern warning from the Madras High Court.

Coming down heavily on the protesters, who began their indefinite strike on September 7, the Madurai Bench of the High Court issued a warning that they would be dismissed if they continued the protests.

“Those who are protesting can be dismissed in an hour. Only if the strike is withdrawn unconditionally, we can direct the Government to hold talks on Monday,” the court said.

The High Court directed the police to ensure no one stayed at the protest venues and directed the employees and teachers to get back to work by 2 p.m.

The spokesperson of Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations – Government Employees’ Organisations (JACTTO-GEO) announced that they had temporarily withdrawn the protest.

Lakhs of Tamil Nadu Government employees and teachers began an indefinite strike on September 7 demanding implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and withdrawal of new pension scheme, following a call by JACTTO-GEO.

As the protests gained momentum in Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore, police arrested 139 government employees, including 67 women who were on a sit-in protest in Coimbatore. A section of Secretariat staff too joined the agitation. More than 43,500 teachers were issued show cause notices under the Tamil Nadu Disciplinary and Appeal Rules.

Though Education Department officials claimed that the quarterly examinations for Grades 10, 11 and 12 were not affected, striking teachers said examinations were conducted by the temporary staff and interns from teacher training schools, reports said.

The State government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it had decided not to pay salary to teachers who had abstained from work. The submission was made when a case filed by an advocate Suryaprakasam, against the ongoing strike of the teachers, came up for hearing.