Strike turns violent in UP, vehicles set on fire in Noida
PTI Feb 20, 2013, 01.47PM IST
LUCKNOW: The two-day nationwide strike called by Central trade unions disrupted normal life in many states on Wednesday leaving commuters in the lurch.
Violence erupted in some places on the first day of a two-day strike as workers, angry about high fuel prices in particular, tried to keep vehicles off the roads.
The strike turned violent in Noida in Uttar Pradesh, adjoining Delhi, after angry workers protested in Noida Phase II. They pelted stones at some factories and burnt vehicles, including a fire engine. The police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the restive crowd.
At least one factory complex was also torched, officials and witnesses said. Glass panes in many factories were shattered even as the security guards tried to pacify the mobs and later fired in the air, a police official said.
A hosiery unit in Noida was ransacked, police sources said.
Roadways buses remained off roads and bank branches were closed in support of the strike call, adversely affecting normal life since morning.
Reports from different parts of the state said employees of various government departments and banks assembled at their respective offices and held protest meetings raising slogans in support of their demands.
Commuters were left stranded, and overcrowding was reported at railway stations. Following this, the state government pressed 200 buses into service at the Kumbh in Allahabad.
The state government had made alternative arrangements like pressing private buses into service, but these were not enough to clear the office rush and people had to depend either on private vehicles or autorickshaws to reach their destinations.
In the state capital, all the major offices have remained shut with employees also taking out protest marches.
The bandh was total in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Unnao, Moradabad and Allahabad.
Major markets in Lucknow like Aminabad and Hazratganj were deserted, and operations at post offices and state-run banks were disrupted.
Banking, transport services hit
Normal banking operations were hit today as employees of public sector banks went on a two-day strike in response to a call given by central trade unions to press for wage hike in the backdrop of rising inflation.
The nationwide strike call has been given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), consisting of nine national level unions, including AIBEA, NCBE, BEFI, INBEF, NOBW and AIBOC.
Apprehending disruption in their normal banking operations, many banks had already informed their customers about the proposed strike.
Meanwhile, sources said, banks have taken steps to ensure that public do not face problems at least on the cash front during the strike period.
Banks have fed additional cash in ATMs to meet the cash needs of their customers.
Bank unions are pressing for early wage revision of employees, which they said is due from November 2012. They are also opposing banking sector reforms and any plan for merger of banks.
There are 26 public sector banks with employees strength of around 10 lakh.
In December 2012 also, four bank unions went on strike opposing amendments carried out in Banking Regulation Act and Banking Companies Act, enabling foreign equity in public sector banks.
The bank strike is part of a general strike call given by 11 central trade unions including Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh ( BMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India United Trade Union Centre.
Trade union leader killed in Ambala
A trade union leader, who was squatting along with a group of workers near the local bus depot as part of the two-day nationwide strike call, on Wednesday died when he was hit by a bus in his bid to stop it from plying, a senior Roadways official said here.
“The incident took place around 4 am this morning when Narender Singh, a bus driver by profession, tried to stop the vehicle which was being taken out from the Ambala Depot despite the strike,” district president, Haryana Roadways Workers Union’s, Inder Singh Bhadana told reporters here.
Bhadana alleged that the district administration tried to forcibly ply the bus, which hit Singh, who was also the treasurer of a AITUC union, killing him on the spot.
After the incident, the other workers resorted to violence damaging vehicles belonging to the Ambala’s Deputy Commissioner of Police and SHO of the Baldev police station area, police said.
Meanwhile, Bhadana demanded a case to be lodged against the General Manager of the Roadways, failing which they will not allow the body to be cremated.
In view of the tense situation, heavy police force had been deployed at the bus depot and its surrounding areas.
Earlier, however, AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta said that the victim was allegedly stabbed to death by some miscreants.
La grève générale se poursuit en Inde
Publié le 21/02/2013 par xxx | Poster un commentaire
Extraits de RFI, 21 février 2013 :
La grève se poursuit ce jeudi à travers l’Inde, où les principaux syndicats ont appelé à protester contre les réformes économiques annoncées par le gouvernement. Les transports étaient perturbés dans plusieurs régions du pays et plusieurs incidents violents ont été signalés mercredi. Les ouvriers indiens dénoncent, entre autres, depuis plusieurs années, une trop faible augmentation des salaires accompagnée d’une suppression progressive des subventions gouvernementale
Les ouvriers des quatre grandes usines du géant automobile indiens Maruti-suzuki ont annoncé qu’ils seraient solidaires avec les millions d’Indiens en grève ce jeudi. Les onze principaux syndicats indiens ont appelé à protester pendant deux jours, à partir de mercredi, contre les réformes de libéralisation économique entreprises par le gouvernement de Manmohan Singh.
Mercredi, les taxis sont restés hors des routes et de nombreux commerces et usines fermés dans la plupart des grandes villes indiennes. (…)
Un leader syndicaliste a été tué dans le nord de l’Inde, après avoir tenté, selon la presse indienne, d’empêcher plusieurs chauffeurs de bus de prendre la route.
Les syndicats exigent entre autre un meilleur contrôle de l’inflation des prix par le gouvernement, l’application du droit du travail, régulièrement bafoué en Inde, et une meilleure protection sociale pour les travailleurs.
http://communismeouvrier.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/la-greve-generale-se-poursuit-en-inde/
Ambala trade union leader killed as two-day nation-wide strike begins
trade union leader trying to stop a bus from plying was killed in Ambala as the two-day nationwide strike called by Central trade unions disrupted normal life in many states on Wednesday and hit banking and transport sectors leaving commuters in the lurch.
In Haryana, bus driver Narender Singh, who was also the treasurer of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), was killed when he tried to stop a bus which was being taken out from the Ambala Depot despite the strike, district president, Haryana Roadways Workers Union’s, Inder Singh Bhadana said.
After the incident, other assembled workers resorted to violence damaging vehicles belonging to the Ambala’s Deputy Commissioner of Police and SHO of the Baldev police station area, police said.
Earlier, AITUC General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told PTI that the victim was allegedly stabbed to death by some persons who wanted to take out buses from the depot despite the strike.
Commuters in the national capital faced hardships as a section of auto-rickshaws and taxis remained off the road in support of the strike.
Although Metro services were not affected by the strike, bus services were partially hit by the strike as a number of bus unions, including a section of Delhi Transport Corporation employees, have also extended support to the strike.
Eleven central unions have called the strike to demand urgent steps to control price rise, strict enforcement of labour laws in all places of work, social security net for workers in the unorganised sector, end to disinvestment in Public Sector Units (PSUs) and raising minimum wage to Rs.10,000.
The impact of the strike was felt on public transport services in north Indian states of Punjab and Haryana as majority of state owned buses plying on inter-state routes in the two states remained off the roads.
In western Indian state of Mahrashtra, the financial sector was hit as bank employees joined the strike.
“We have received massive response to our strike call as operations in banks and insurance companies came to a halt,” All India Bank Employees Association Vice President Vishwas Uttagi claimed.
There was little impact of the two-day strike in West Bengal, eastern Indian state. Shops and markets were mostly open in Kolkata. Private buses and taxis were less, though state buses operated normally.
Barring blockades at Hasnabad and Diamond sections of the Eastern Railway, train services were normal in Howrah and Sealdah divisions.
The West Bengal government had warned employees against being absent during the strike.The state government has also asked shops and markets to remain open or face administrative action, including cancellation of trade licence.
In eastern coastal state of Odisha, commuters faced difficulties in many parts as buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws remained off the roads leaving a large number of passengers, including women and children, stranded at bus stands.
Shops, markets, business establishments, petrol pumps and restaurants remained closed and roads wore a deserted look with thin traffic, official sources said.
Banks remained closed with employees picketing and demonstrating at different places.
Train services were disrupted by protesters blocking tracks at many places including the state capital of Bhubaneswar, besides at Cuttack, Balasore, Khurda Road, Berhampur and Sambalpur, railway sources said.
Normal life was hit in Left Front-ruled Tripura due to the strike. Shops and markets were closed, as were schools, colleges, banks and financial institutions.
Private buses and taxis were off the roads and train service came to a standstill in the state.
CITU workers staged a dharna on the train lines at the Agartala railways station.
In south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, personnel of various public sector organisations stayed away from work.
The employees of various public sector banks began protest at the Bank Street at Koti in Hyderabad as part of the strike.The leaders of the bank unions sit-out at the government’s alleged attempts to dilute the public sector banking system.
The staff of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) have also joined the strike in different parts of the state.
Barring stray incidents of stone pelting in Bellary, the nationwide strike called by 11 trade unions in support of their demands evoked a mixed response across Karnataka.
Sources said some persons pelted stones at some buses and blocked roads in Bellary while normal life was hit in Koppal, with buses, autorickshaws and other transport off the roads, officials said.
In Rajasthan, bank branches were closed and state roadways buses kept away from the roads.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bharat-bandh-ambala-trade-union-leader-killed-two-day-nation-wide-strike/1/250979.html
INDE: Grève générale de 48 heures. Le deuxième plus grand pays du monde paralysé par la grève générale les 20 et 21 février prochains.