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Journalism of Courage
The Left-affiliated central trade unions began their nationwide strike to protest against ‘anti-labour policies’ of the government. Essential services, including transport and banking, are likely to be hit in several states as central trade unions have rejected the government’s appeal and decided to enforce a strike on Friday.
RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), however, has decided not to join the strike as it believes that the government has accepted its demands.
Read | Bharat Bandh: What will function, what will not
The strike has been called by central trade unions such as Congress’s INTUC, and Left’s CITU and AITUC. Essential services such as banking, public transport and telecom will be hit.
READ | Bharat Bandh hit life in Kerala, West Bengal; no effect in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
Commuters will have a tough time as many autorickshaw unions in big cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have decided to keep off the roads on Friday. Chakka jam has been planned in 11 states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
LIVE UPDATES
4.00 pm: https://twitter.com/cpimspeak/status/771651510023262210
3.45 pm: https://twitter.com/cpimspeak/status/771653696073506816
03.15 pm: Students and Workers of HCU joint rally
03.00 pm: Kakinada sea port in Andhra Pradesh closed as workers participate in the strike
02.45 pm: A joint march of Trade Unions in Ranchi, Jharkhand to observe All India Strike
02.30 pm: Nurses Union protest outside Safdarjung hospital
01.00 pm: JCTU Rally at Mysore Bank Circle, Bangalore
12.45 pm: CITU workers hold protest rally in support of their demands in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
12.30 pm: Protestors and police clash in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
12.00 noon: Bank employees and officers hold demonstration in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
11.45 am: Protests across the north-eastern state of Tripura
11.30 am: Complete shutdown observed in Andhra Pradesh as trade union workers protest for wage hike.
11.15 am: Road blockade at Dudhgaonkar in Malkapur, Buldana District, Maharashtra
11.00 am: Nurses protest at RML Hospital, New Delhi demanding salary hike.
10.45 am: There were clashes between the CPM and TMC workers during Trade Union Strike in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.
10.30 am: Delhi Nurses Union protest outside Safdarjung Hospital demanding better wages
10.15 am: Today’s #AllIndiaStrike is for workers (organised and unorganised), farmers, unemployed and for each one of us, says Sitaram Yechury
10.o0 am: Siliguri(WB) Municipal Corporation Mayor Ashok Bhattacharya arrested along with 15 other protesters
9.45 am: UP roadways employees’ strike disrupts normal life in Varanasi.
9. 40 am: Trade union workers at Bhubaneswar railway station in Odisha
9.30 am: As strike hits the normal life of Bengaluru, schools and colleges remain shut as a precautionary measure.
9.15 am: Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh’s Pawan Kumar said, “We or any groups associated with us are not supporting the trade union strike.”
9:00 am: The strike is in full force in Kerala where a Left government is in power.
8:40 am: But in Cooch Behar in north Bengal, things are certainly not looking good. A bus’s windshield and windows have been smashed by protesters.
8:35 am: A railway official said no blockage on tracks in West Bengal have been reported so far. Sealdah, the busiest railway station in the state, showed signs of normalcy in the morning. Taxis were operating as well.
8:15 am: The CPI-M, through its Twitter handle, announces that the strike began at midnight itself in the coal mines of Madhya Pradesh, docks of Kochi, industrial belt of Gurgaon/Manesar etc.
BACKGROUND
The unions have opposed the government’s proposal to hike minimum wage for unskilled workers by up to 20 per cent to Rs 12,000 per month for Tier-I cities, saying it should be more in view of price rise. The unions are demanding social security for workers and a minimum wage of not less than 18,000 per month. They also want an assured enhanced pension of not less than 3,000 per month for all sectors, including unorganised workers. They also want FDI to be removed from railways, defence and other “strategic sectors”.
Read | Labour policy: Trade unions reject govt appeal, to go on strike today
AITUC said that various sections of the formal and informal economy are prepared to make the bandh a “grand protest of the working class” against anti-labour policies of the Centre. There will be processions in almost all the industrial clusters of Delhi such as Okhla, Kirti Nagar, Mayapuri, Wazirpur, Jhilmil-Shahdara, Patparganj and Mangolpuri from the morning. “At Jantar Mantar there will be a gathering of workers and employees from banks, insurance, universities, postal, telecom, defence and oil sectors to take part in a procession to Parliament,” AITUC said in a statement.
Read | Bharat Bandh today: Minimum wage, what it is, how it is fixed
Since railways have opted out of the strike, trains will run smoothly. Schools and colleges, too, have not declared an official holiday. Though some public banks have decided to join the strike, private banks, ATMs will remain functional.
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