Madras High Court restrains thermal power plant workers from going on strike

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (Nov 10, 2026) barred the Tamil Nadu Central Electricity Employees Organization, affiliated to the Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), from going on strike at state government-run thermal power plants from Wednesday (Nov 11, 2026).

The Second Division Bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and R. Rajesh Vivekananthan issued the interim order on an urgent public interest litigation filed by activist Vineeth Kumar, who feared that public services would suffer if power generation was interrupted due to the strike.

The judges also noted Additional Solicitor General PV Balasubramaniam’s submission that there was no direct employer-employee relationship between the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) and the workers who were hired for work through various contractors.

Nevertheless, the workers raised a number of demands and threatened to strike if their demands were not met. The Additional Solicitor General said that thermal power plants have to run continuously and it would be very difficult to restart them in case of a temporary shutdown.

In his affidavit, the PIL petitioner said that the workers intending to go on strike had not given 15 days notice to TNPGCL as required by law. He discovered that workers intending to strike could gather outside thermal power plants and prevent others intending to work from entering the plant.

Published – 10 Nov 2026 21:08 IST