Updated: September 2, 2016 18:02 IST
Live Updates
Total shutdown in Kerala, mixed response in other States
National
September 2, 2016
Updated: September 2, 2016 18:02 IST
Total shutdown in Kerala, mixed response in other States
Trade unions are demanding higher minimum wages and provision of social security to workers in the unorganised sector.
An all India strike called by major trade unions got under way on Friday. It was total in Kerala and drew mixed response in other States. It received lukewarm response from workers, top Labour Ministry officials in Delhi said
Here are the live updates:
4.30 pm: Around 2,000 nurses stayed away from work following All India Government Nurses Federation’s call to join the strike. Normal life was disrupted in most parts of Odisha too. Read more
4.15 pm: Normal life was paralysed in Tripura in response to the strike call. State capital Agartala wore a deserted look with public transport vehicles staying off the roads. Government offices, banks, schools and colleges remained closed while business establishments kept their shutters down. CITU activists were picketing before government establishments. They also stopped people from entering offices. Though train services have been totally disrupted, the state government provided police escort to people who were going to the airport.
3.46 pm: Normal life was disrupted in most parts of Odisha too. Train services were affected following ‘rail roko’ by agitators who squatted on the tracks at several places including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jaleswar, Keonjhargarh and Rayagada, police said.
3.42 pm: Work was also affected in PSUs like Vizag Steel Plant, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Ltd, Hindustan Shipyard, NTPC’s Simhadri Power Plant, Visakhapatnam Port Trust and private industrial units in Visakhapatnam as many of the workers joined the strike.
3.38 pm: In Telangana, banking operations came to a standstill with over 15,000 employees belonging to various banks participating in the general strike.
3.25 pm: The strike is almost complete in Left-ruled Kerala where it got the support of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who courted controversy after supporting the strike on Facebook with BJP hitting out against him.
Public transport vehicles in Kerala stayed off the roads and shops and business establishments downed shutters.
3.20 pm: All India Coal Workers Federation General Secretary (CITU) D.D. Ramanadan said, “Dispatch, production and transport of coal have come to a standstill with operations in CIL subsidiaries BCCL, CCL, ECL and CMPDI badly hit. Around 300 workers have been arrested in Rajmahal and Chitra mines areas.”
3.17 pm: Clearing operations at Reserve Bank are hit with trade union leaders claiming that cheques totalling Rs. 19,000 crore were held up as the staff did not report on duty.
“Clearing services have been impacted. Financial instrument worth Rs. 19,000 crore has been held up,” claimed AIBEA General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam – PTI
3.15 pm: While some states like Kerala and Telangana are badly hit by the strike, the impact is partial in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra. However, life remains normal in metropolitan cities of Mumbai and Delhi – PTI
3.02 pm: Employees of departments like roadways, electricity, health, corporations held demonstrations at various places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. At some places, employees claimed the district administration “forcefully” asked roadways employees to ply buses – PTI
2.53 pm: Striking trade union activists of Cochin Port Trust shout ‘Navy go back’ slogans as the Southern Naval Command deployed 57 service personnel as part of ‘Op Himmat’ for technical and operational support to the port.
At a rally and public meeting taken out on the port premises, they deplored the naval initiative. “It’s undemocratic to deploy military to defeat a trade union strife,” said CD Nandakumar, joint union general convenor.
2.45 pm: Normal life was affected in Bihar with autorickshaws and other public vehicles off the roads while banks remained closed. As public transport was not available, passengers, particularly alighting from trains, had a harrowing time reaching their destinations. Schools recorded thin attendance of students in Patna while government as well as private sector employees also had tough time reaching offices. Agitators disrupted train services in Begusarai and Jehanabad. Banks remained shut in major cities like Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Chapra, Arrah, Biharsharif, Katihar, Begusarai, Samastipur and Gopalganj. NABARD, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks also remained closed.
AITUC and CITU workers taking out a rally as part of the general strike in Visakhapatnam. Photo: K R Deepak/The Hindu
2.30 pm: The call for nationwide strike against the alleged “anti-labour” policies of the Union Government had a partial impact on the Gurgaon-Manesar-Bawal industrial region. It was mostly the automobile companies — there are an estimated 1,500 small, medium and large automobile factories in this industrial region — that remained affected due to the strike, whereas it was business as usual for more than 2,500 garments and pharmaceutical companies in Gurgaon. Read more.
2.18 pm: The All India strike call given by central trade unions evoked good response in Kolar and Chickballapur districts on Friday. A peaceful bandh was observed in both the districts. Private and KSRTC buses as well as autos remained off the roads causing inconvenience to the people. A holiday was declared for schools and colleges in these districts as a precautionary measures. Post office and banks downed their shutters. The functionaries of trade unions went in groups to the state government offices and raised slogans in support of strike. They appealed to close the offices following which the staff came out and offices were closed.
2.03 pm: Services including banking and public transport were hit in Haryana, Punjab and UT Chandigarh with employees of various government departments joining one-day nationwide strike to protest against “anti—labour” policies of the government. Employees of departments like roadways, electricity, health, corporations held demonstrations at various places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. At some places, employees claimed the district administration “forcefully” asked roadways employees to ply buses. The government departments had already warned protesting employees to enforce ‘no work no pay’ policy and had set up control rooms to lodge complaint.
1.39 pm: The strike called by central trade unions evoked a mixed response in this Union Territory. Private buses, autos and other passenger vehicles were off the roads while state-run buses were operated as usual. Shops and establishments downed their shutters. Cinema houses suspended the shows for the day. However, government departments registered normal attendance, official sources said.
1.38 pm: The nation-wide strike called by central trade unions today hit normal life in Odisha with protesters coming on roads and railway tracks affecting the traffic movement all over the state. The trade unions are protesting against what they call anti-worker changes in labour laws and demand improvement in wages. Train services were affected as trade union activists staged rail roko by holding sit-in on tracks at many places including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jaleswar, Keonjhargarh and Rayagada, police said.
1.04 pm: The CPI(M) on Friday defended the ongoing day-long nationwide strike called by 10 central trade unions (CTUs) over various issues including government’s “anti-labour” reforms, saying the protest is for “each one of us” and that workers’ rights are “no charity“. “Today’s #AllIndiaStrike is for workers (organised and unorganised), farmers, unemployed and for each one of us. “#AllIndiaStrike #Today #Workers #Dignity #Livelihood #RightsNotCharity,” party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a series of tweets.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/live-updates-all-india-trade-unions-strike/article9063780.ece
2016
#Sept2StrikeHard. Sciopero generale in India
Oggi decine di milioni di lavoratori indiani sono scesi in sciopero per chiedere salari più alti e protestare contro le riforme economiche del governo, ovvero contro il “percorso di liberalizzazione e privatizzazione”.
Lo sciopero ha toccato i seguenti settori: trasporti, finanza, energia, carbone, tessile, porto e banchina, acciaio, petrolio, produzione per la difesa, pubblico e statale. I sindacati criticano la proposta di aprire le ferrovie e il settore della difesa agli investimenti esteri, considerate scelte che “indeboliscono le aziende di stato”.
Il governo dal canto suo dice che le riforme sono necessarie per sostenere l’economia, ma le organizzazioni sindacali sostengono che il primo ministro Narendra Modi non ha affrontato le richieste dei lavoratori, che riguardano la rigorosa applicazione di tutte le leggi fondamentali del lavoro senza alcuna eccezione o deroga, misure severe per punire coloro che violano queste regole, l’assistenza pensionistica universale per tutti e il salario minimo di 18.000 rupie al mese.
L’ultimo sciopero generale, il 2 settembre 2015, ha visto la partecipazione di quasi 150 milioni di lavoratori.