Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/ SRINAGAR, Mar 28: A joint forum of Central Trade Unions today began a two-day countrywide strike against the policies of the Central Government.
The joint forum comprises of ten trade unions, including the Indian National Trade Union Congress, the All India Trade Union Congress, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the All India United Trade Union Centre and the United Trade Union Congress.
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In Jammu CITU activists associated with various bodies held strong protest demonstration led by general secretary Om Parkash at Press Club. Parkash said the strike is being held through out the country in support of the demands like scrapping the Labour codes, no to privatization and scrape NMP besides other demands.
JL Parihar also raised several issues and criticised Central Government for its anti- worker policies.
All Indian Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said that banks and insurance sectors have been impacted across the country, while steel and oil sectors were partially hit due to the strike. Kaur said that the entire coal mining area in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh was also impacted.
She added that the call for the nationwide strike has received good response in industrial areas of Rajasthan, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi, Assam, Telangana, Kerala, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Goa and Oddisha.
The strike is also likely to hurt essential services related to others sectors, including transportation, railways and electricity.
The unions have asked the Central government to scrap proposed changes in labour laws, privatisation and the National Monetisation pipeline. They are also seeking increased allocation of wages under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act and regularisation of contract workers.
Under the National Monetisation Pipeline, the government plans to raise Rs 6 lakh crore till 2025 by leasing out state-owned strategic assets in sectors such as power, road and railways to private entities.
Workers from various sectors, including banking, steel, oil, telecom, coal, postal, income tax, copper, and insurance are expected to participate in the strike. The bank unions are protesting against the government’s decision to privatise public sector banks.
In a statement, the forum said that workers of transport, roadways and electricity departments have also decided to join the strike even as the Essential Services Maintenance Act is likely to be imposed in Haryana and Chandigarh. The Act prohibits strikes by employees engaged in services that could be impact the normal life of the country’s citizens.
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