Trade unions call strike a success, govt says key services were normal

Life was hit in several parts of India on Wednesday because of a nationwide strike called by trade unions to oppose labour reforms initiated by the central government, even as authorities termed the strike “politically motivated”.

The central trade unions termed the event, the first nationwide strike after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power in May 2014, a “massive success” as banking, insurance, transport and coal were among the sectors impacted the most. Educational institutions in cities such as Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Kochi were also affected due to the protest.

“At least 23 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks, 52 regional rural banks and over 13,000 cooperative banks went on strike today to protest against the government’s pro-corporate policies,” All India Bank Employees Association general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said.

He said cheques worth Rs.3.75 trillion could not be cleared as bank employees stayed away from work and added that 500,000 bank employees joined the strike, though unions of State Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank did not participate in the strike.

Overall, 150 million organized and unorganized sector workers, across sectors, participated in the strike, central trade unions said in a statement and termed the strike the biggest in the last 15 years.

A.K. Padmanabhan, president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, a Communist Party of India (Marxist)-affiliated union, termed the strike the biggest since 1991 as the one in February 2013 saw some 100 million workers participate in it. He said despite the unions engaging with the government to find a solution to the 12-point charter of demands, nothing concrete emerged.

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is also a member of the group of ministers’ panel to deal with labour unions, said: “Railways, banking and local transportation services were normal”.

He added: “Some trade unions went on strike not understanding our proposals. Maybe they had some political compulsions...”

Pradhan said the government gave unions “clear solutions to their fundamental demands regarding minimum wages, social security, adherence to existing labour laws, bonus and tripartite discussions”.

“Some trade unions understood our proposals and kept them out of today’s strike,” he said on the sidelines of a cabinet briefing in New Delhi.

Many industrial and commercial establishments preferred to shut units because of fear and threat of vandalism by trade union leaders and their supporters, said the Employers’ Association of Delhi.

Industry lobby group Assocham estimated the loss due to the strike at Rs.25,000 crore.

Industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry said the impact of the strike had been “partial”, but the “real concern is that the image of India as an attractive business destination could take a beating”. The Indian economy cannot afford such disruptions, CII president Sumit Mazumder said.

“The current government has performed well on economic parameters. For every problem, an amicable solution can be reached through mutual discussions but resorting to such strikes will be detrimental to the growth of the economy, particularly when the country is facing the heat of global economic turbulence,” he said.

During the day, police and protesters clashed in parts of West Bengal, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. In West Bengal, Left supporters and ruling All India Trinamool Congress supporters came to blows in parts of the state.

Unions claimed banking, coal, port and steel sectors saw the most impact of the industrial action. They said while rail services were disrupted in some places, including Bihar, road transport services were impacted in a big way.

They claimed LPG plants were shut in all parts of the country, affecting cooking gas supply. There was a “near complete” strike in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

The strike affected life in Kerala, Assam, Goa, Telangana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Manipur, West Bengal, Uttrakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

It had less of an impact in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

In a late evening statement, the labour ministry said the impact of the strike was not severe and the “situation remained, by and large, normal and peaceful across the country”.