When more than one lakh state government employees and teachers go on strike, any chief minister would be unnerved. But when it happened in Tamil Nadu on July 1, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa just smiled. Three weeks later, the mystery of the smile was revealed. The 80-odd unions on strike-now divided and disillusioned-prostrated themselves before Jayalalithaa in order to get their members reinstated. The way the chief minister dealt with the strike, arresting tens of thousands of employees under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and dismissing 1.7 lakh workers, only reinforced her image as the Iron Lady. On July 21, when the Supreme Court appreciated her tough stand and "suggested" the employees might be reinstated on compassionate grounds, Jayalalithaa proved beyond doubt that nothing in the state administration could go against her wishes.

TOUGH STANCE: Jayalalithaa (top) will not reinstate all employees she dismissed

At the end of three weeks, it was clear Amma had won on many fronts: besides the apex court's endorsement of the Government's stance, the unions of the teachers and the employees began to disintegrate following internal differences and the Opposition was silenced. The Jayalalithaa-style could well be an example for other chief ministers who have to deal with demanding employees whom the Supreme Court chided for "thinking strike is their birth right".

Protesting against the withdrawal of dearness allowance and certain cash benefits under the pension scheme, the strike by the unions representing 13 lakh employees and teachers began on July 1. The agitation crippled the administration. When the stir showed signs of gaining momentum, Jayalalithaa did what she does best: take the bull by its horns. On day one itself, the police took 20 representatives of the various unions into preventive custody, and the Government made it clear that ESMA would be invoked to arrest and dismiss the striking employees. A close aide of the chief minister had this to say about Jayalalithaa's strong posture: "She wouldn't have turned tough so early but for the utterances of some union leaders. They used harsh words and boasted of support from opposition parties to bring the Government to its knees. That really rubbed Amma the wrong way."

And when Amma is annoyed, there's no saying what happens next. The police arrested not only the union leaders but also those from other sectors who came out in support of the agitation. The Government quietly deployed people registered with the employment exchanges on contract duty. As unemployed youths thronged district collectorates and the secretariat, the Government drove home the message that the existing staff were not indispensable.

The biggest blow to the strikers came on July 4 when the Government passed an ordinance empowering it to dismiss the striking employees. The Government immediately started cracking down. More than 2,500 secretariat staff returned to work the same day. "That was the end of the agitation," says N.L. Sridharan, leader of a CPI(M)-backed union.

Opposition leaders, including DMK President M. Karunanidhi, flayed the Government and called for the repeal of ESMA, but nothing happened. Midnight knocks by the police-now notoriously frequent across the state-troubled not just the union leaders but even the ordinary employees. Says a bureaucrat: "Once the chief minister felt that some union leaders were trying to ridicule her, she took it as a personal insult and vowed to demolish the strike. It was a determined Jayalalithaa at her best."

On July 5, Chief Secretary Lakshmi Pranesh issued the dismissal orders of a joint secretary and 15 deputy secretaries. In Dindigul, 7,200 employees were dismissed. Even as the unions approached the Madras High Court arguing against the maintainability of ESMA, the Government went ahead with the dismissals and the fresh recruitments. Meanwhile, the employees found a ray of hope. Justice P.D. Dinakaran of the high court passed an interim order asking the Government to release the arrested employees and revoke the suspension orders since they had given an undertaking they would withdraw the stir. The judge added that he would be forced to pass orders if the Government did not take a positive decision on the employees' release before 10.30 a.m. the next day, July 6.

The Government was not intimidated. Within minutes of the judicial order, it filed a writ appeal before Chief Justice B. Subhashan Reddy. In an hour, the first bench comprising the chief justice and Justice N. Dinakar suspended the single-judge order. Arrests and dismissals continued and there was no response from Jayalalithaa on the request to take back the employees. Finally on July 16, Jayalalithaa broke her silence, but only to chide the staff. "They should realise their duties before fighting for their rights," she told a meeting at Namakkal while announcing welfare measures worth Rs 386 crore. "The government employees form only 2 per cent of the state's population. I can't cater to all the demands of this minority ignoring the interests of the 98 per cent. After all, the government comes to power promising welfare to the people." She did not forget to take a dig at the previous DMK government, saying she had inherited empty coffers and that the employees should realise the financial strain on the Government.

While a majority of the unions were resigned to their fate and kept requesting the Government to reinstate the dismissed employees, some unions and a DMK leader approached the Supreme Court. The state Government employed the best of lawyers-K.K. Venugopal and P.P. Rao-who justified the dismissal of 1.7 lakh employees and the maintainability of ESMA. Finally, the Supreme Court observations on July 21 came as a pat on the back for Jayalalithaa.

The apex court bench comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan criticised the employees for "holding the state to ransom" and "bringing the administration to a grinding halt". It suggested the Government reinstate the employees who had not indulged in violence. The Government has given an undertaking that it will take back all the dismissed employees except 2,200 against whom firs have been lodged for allegedly indulging in violence during the stir. They belong to unions affiliated to opposition parties like the DMK and the Left.

Meanwhile, the unions are a divided family. G. Suryamurthy, one of the leaders of the umbrella organisation JACTTEO-GEO, COTA-GEO, walked out to form a parallel federation. "My union always believed in negotiated settlements. It was the intransigence of some unions affiliated to the Left that landed us in trouble," says a chastened Suryamurthy. "Many leaders shot their mouth off angering the chief minister." Sridharan of the rival camp refutes this: "Suryamurthy was our spokesman during the strike. He can't blame others." Both factions claim they have the backing of a majority and the discord gathers force. They, however, agree on one thing: they will not forget the lessons they have learnt this time. And these will be carefully revised before they strike again.