Trade unions to hold two-day nationwide strike from today
21 Feb 2013 5:01 AM IST
Key sectors of the economy may be crippled as a massive nationwide trade union strike is set to start Wednesday, which will shut transport, banking services, shops and the postal system.
Central trade unions called for two-day mega strike as their talks with the government failed to reach a conclusion.
The unions have demanded concrete measures for containing inflation, steps for employment generation, universal social security and making the minimum wage Rs.10,000 per month along with daily allowance.'All these issues had been agreed upon by the labour parliament, which is a tripartite body with government representation. But the issues have not been implemented,' said Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Secretary General Baijnath Rai.
The strike has been called jointly by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Indian Trade Union Congress (Intuc), All India Trade Union Congress (Aituc), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) and other such central organisations.
The government reached out to the union leaders on Monday with a committee comprising Defence Minister A K Antony, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge but the talks failed.
'The meeting was only an eyewash. Finance Minister P Chidambaram did not come and Pawar and Antony were not aware of our problems. We don't want assurance. We want the demands to be met,' said Rai.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has appealed to the trade unions to withdraw their strike call as the shutdown would cause massive losses to the economy and inconvenience to the general public.
The strike is expected to affect normal life as the transport sector is expected to be impacted. 'Except rail and air transport, all sectors have been called to go on strike,' informed Rai.
Meanwhile, the Department of Personnel and Training has written to secretaries of all Central government ministries not to sanction any leave to employees during the strike period.
The Finance Ministry too issued a statement urging public sector bank (PSB) employees not to join
the strike.
RBI EMPLOYEES TO PARTICIPATE
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees all over the country will participate in the two-day strike called by the central unions from Wednesday, the unions said on Tuesday. A statement issued by the All India Reserve Bank Employees Association and All India Reserve Bank Workers Federation here said that the RBI employees would support the strike and the country’s central bank will remain closed. (PTI)
INDIA INC APPEALS TO TUS TO CALL OFF STRIKE
Industry body Assocham on Tuesday urged central trade unions to withdraw the two-day-strike scheduled on 20 and 21 February as the economy would lose Rs 15,000-20,000 crore due to the disruption.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said it estimated the national loss figures based on the daily erosion of about 30-40 per cent to the country's gross domestic production (GDP) for two days.
'The strike would take its toll on at least 30-40 per cent, or Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore,' Assocham said in a statement here.
'The national economy, battling a slowdown, can ill afford this situation,' claimed Assocham president Rajkumar Dhoot. 'In fact, the strike would aggravate the price situation because of disruption in the supply of essential commodities.''Given the nature of the strike and involvement of the all five major central trade unions, it is going to affect the services sector, including banking, financial services, tourism, transportation, etc, which are all major contributors to the country's gross dometic product (GDP),' added Dhoot.
The central trade unions have given a two-day nationwide shutdown call Feb 20-21 against the sharp and sustained inflation and poor employment generation caused by the pro-American Manmohan Singh government's 'economic reforms' drive.'The government has adopted economic policies which create inflation and recession. This is frustrating,' pointed out All India Trade Union Congress national Secretary Ramakrushna Panda.
Central trade unions called for two-day mega strike as their talks with the government failed to reach a conclusion.
The unions have demanded concrete measures for containing inflation, steps for employment generation, universal social security and making the minimum wage Rs.10,000 per month along with daily allowance.'All these issues had been agreed upon by the labour parliament, which is a tripartite body with government representation. But the issues have not been implemented,' said Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Secretary General Baijnath Rai.
The strike has been called jointly by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Indian Trade Union Congress (Intuc), All India Trade Union Congress (Aituc), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) and other such central organisations.
The government reached out to the union leaders on Monday with a committee comprising Defence Minister A K Antony, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge but the talks failed.
'The meeting was only an eyewash. Finance Minister P Chidambaram did not come and Pawar and Antony were not aware of our problems. We don't want assurance. We want the demands to be met,' said Rai.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has appealed to the trade unions to withdraw their strike call as the shutdown would cause massive losses to the economy and inconvenience to the general public.
The strike is expected to affect normal life as the transport sector is expected to be impacted. 'Except rail and air transport, all sectors have been called to go on strike,' informed Rai.
Meanwhile, the Department of Personnel and Training has written to secretaries of all Central government ministries not to sanction any leave to employees during the strike period.
The Finance Ministry too issued a statement urging public sector bank (PSB) employees not to join
the strike.
RBI EMPLOYEES TO PARTICIPATE
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees all over the country will participate in the two-day strike called by the central unions from Wednesday, the unions said on Tuesday. A statement issued by the All India Reserve Bank Employees Association and All India Reserve Bank Workers Federation here said that the RBI employees would support the strike and the country’s central bank will remain closed. (PTI)
INDIA INC APPEALS TO TUS TO CALL OFF STRIKE
Industry body Assocham on Tuesday urged central trade unions to withdraw the two-day-strike scheduled on 20 and 21 February as the economy would lose Rs 15,000-20,000 crore due to the disruption.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said it estimated the national loss figures based on the daily erosion of about 30-40 per cent to the country's gross domestic production (GDP) for two days.
'The strike would take its toll on at least 30-40 per cent, or Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore,' Assocham said in a statement here.
'The national economy, battling a slowdown, can ill afford this situation,' claimed Assocham president Rajkumar Dhoot. 'In fact, the strike would aggravate the price situation because of disruption in the supply of essential commodities.''Given the nature of the strike and involvement of the all five major central trade unions, it is going to affect the services sector, including banking, financial services, tourism, transportation, etc, which are all major contributors to the country's gross dometic product (GDP),' added Dhoot.
The central trade unions have given a two-day nationwide shutdown call Feb 20-21 against the sharp and sustained inflation and poor employment generation caused by the pro-American Manmohan Singh government's 'economic reforms' drive.'The government has adopted economic policies which create inflation and recession. This is frustrating,' pointed out All India Trade Union Congress national Secretary Ramakrushna Panda.
Next Story
