Airport, bank strike today

There was frenzied activity in the government and industry today, in view of the one-day strike tomorrow by banking, insurance and airport employees to protest against "anti-worker economic policies" of the government.

The government cautioned air travellers about possible disruptions in air services. "There is a possibility of disruption in services. Travellers must check their flights with airlines before travel," said Ajai Prasad, civil aviation secretary.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today said flights would not be affected as the ministry had organised back-up facilities. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sought the help of the Indian Air Force, the Navy and other government agencies to maintain normal operations at airports.

Air India said all its flights-except two flights to London on Thursday and Friday-would run on schedule. The passengers of the two affected flights, one each from New Delhi and Mumbai, will be accommodated in other West-bound flights. The company will run 65 flights on next two days.

Jet Airways has rescheduled, combined or curtailed some of its flights. "All efforts have been made to provide connectivity in all sectors, except in the east. The airlines has cancelled all its flights to and from Kolkata and those in the North-Eastern sector," said the airlines in a statement.

Indian Airlines and Air Sahara too have cancelled some of their services to Kolkata and have merged flights on other sectors in view of the anticipated reduction in traffic. Airlines have said in such situations, about 20 to 30 per cent of tickets are cancelled.

Air Sahara has cancelled its 19 flights to and from Kolkata on Thursday. "Even in busy sectors like Delhi-Mumbai, we are merging some flights," said an Air Sahara spokesperson.

Kingfisher Airlines has cancelled some of its flights. Said Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director, Kingfisher Airlines: "On an average, 25 per cent of Kingfisher Airlines flights operating on September 29 have been cancelled."

International airlines are also rescheduling their flights to reduce the impact of the strike.

An official spokesman said, "Some employees manning vital services like the air traffic controllers have said they will not join. We hope to maintain normal operations." But AAI Employees Union general secretary, M K Ghosal, said the vast majority of airport workers would heed the strike call. "You can imagine the impact, when 20,000 out of the 22,000 workers go on strike," he said.

In the financial sector, trade union members employed with Reserve Bank of India, state, private, co-operative and rural banks will stay away from work for a day.

The sponsoring committee has said its one lakh members will go on strike to secure its pending demands, including opposition to privatisation policies of the central government.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) employees are also likely to join the strike. The employees are protesting against what they say are anti-worker economic policies such as privatisation, allowing foreign direct investment in the pension and other key sectors.

Cheque clearing operations are most likely to get affected. The Reserve Bank of India said it will assess the situation and, by the afternoon, decide whether to postpone clearing for the day to Friday.

All-India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said the unions disagree with Finance Minister P Chidambaram's comments that banks should merge to take on global competition. The strike would be near-total with more than 95 per cent of the 1.3 million bank and insurance employees participating, he said.

Many state governments"" including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh""have warned employees against joining the strike, but public sector units workers have vowed to make the strike a success. Kerala and West Bengal, red bastions both, are likely to be hit the hardest.