Millions of workers from banking, insurance, mining and transport companies will go on strike tomorrow, as the government’s efforts to reach a middle ground with the central trade unions (CTUs) failed. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself called trade union representatives to persuade them to call off the strike, but to no avail.
The strike, called by all the 11 CTUs is to protest against rising prices, contractualisation of work, unemployment and violation of labour laws. Trade unions are also demanding the government amend the Minimum Wages Act to fix a uniform, statutory minimum wage all over the country, and remove all ceilings on payment and eligibility for bonuses and provident fund. The strike will see the participation of workers across sectors. Work is expected to be affected at all major public sector banks, public sector insurance companies, major ports and docks and mining companies. The strike would be the first since Independence to bring together all CTUs on a single platform.
Due to the strike, the banking sector is expected to be the worst affected, where an estimated 800,000 workers are expected to take part. According to
C H Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, employees of 26 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks, eight foreign banks and various cooperative banks will participate in the strike. In many banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), the officers and clerical staff unions are controlled by the same CTU. SBI, the country’s biggest bank, is unlikely to function tomorrow.
Venkatachalam said banks’ unions were also protesting against the implementation of the Khandelwal Committee recommendations. Work will also be affected in all public sector insurance companies, where around 40,000 workers will join the strike.
Handling of cargo at all the major ports of the country will be affected, as around 72,000 workers will abstain from work. According to
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T Narendra Rao, general secretary of the Water Transport Workers’ Federation of India, workers of all major ports including Mumbai, Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai and Vizag will “ensure entire stopping of work for a day”. Also, workers at Coal India, NMDC and other government subsidiaries of mineral and mining companies will participate in the strike.
Though the union of the service engineers of Air India has formally not called a strike, it has told its members to proceed on mass leave.
“We have not called for a strike, as it could cause problems with the government. However, we told our members what the issues were and we expect many would take leave in solidarity with other trade unions,” said a member of the Air India Service Engineer’s Union, requesting anonymity. However, work at airports is likely to remain unaffected as the ground staff has so far not taken any decision on participating in the strike.
Road transport will be affected with the unions of most state government transport corporations participating. Among the states, government transport services in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh are expected to be affected. Railway employees have not yet decided whether to join the strike.
Though the government has so far refrained from making any direct statement on the strike, the UPA's largest coalition partner and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned of steps in case of absence from duty by state employees.
“I will appeal to the people not to respond to the strike and to attend office as usual as steps have been taken to run trains, trams and buses," Banerjee said. “My government will not allow any forcible closure of shops and offices,” she said, asking pro-strike processions not to block roads. However, as the major movers of the strike are the trade unions affiliated to the Left parties, street clashes in West bengal cannot be ruled out.
Last year saw an upsurge in industrial unrest in the country, with at least a dozen strikes affecting work across sectors. The year saw the emergence of contractualisation of work as a major reason for dissatisfaction among workers.
The three strikes at Maruti Suzuki India’s Manesar plant were emblematic of this rising trend.