Services hit as bank, power staff go on strike

SHIMLA: The workers and employees of the united coordination committee of trade unions, including bank employees and outsourced employees, observed a strike on Tuesday, paralysing various services in state and Central government offices, banks, post offices, power board and corporations today.

CITU members protest at the Secretariat in Shimla on Tuesday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 8

The workers and employees of the united coordination committee of trade unions, including bank employees and outsourced employees, observed a strike on Tuesday, paralysing various services in state and Central government offices, banks, post offices, power board and corporations today. The unions are demanding one rank one pension for all employees and have given a call for two-day strike.

All unions of workers and employees affiliated with the left-wing CITU, AITUC (neutral) and INTUC (Congress) participated in the strike. However, factions of the unions affiliated with right- wing trade union BMS did not participate in the strike.

These trade unions staged a protest march from Panchayat Bhawan to the state secretariat and held demonstrations at 25 other places in the state against the policies of the Central government.

The Modi government was pursuing anti-worker policies, outsourcing PSUs to private players, amending labour laws unilaterally to help big corporates, alleged AITUC and INTUC leaders while addressing workers at the secretariat. The minimum wages should be Rs 18,000 for the workers, they demanded.

The bank operations were hit as unions of the public sector banks also participated in the strike in the state capital seeking wage hike and opposing merger of the banks.

However, health services in Indira Gandhi Medical College and hospital (IGMC) remained normal as the outsourced workers of the private contractor did not participate in the strike, claimed MS, IGMC Janak Raj. “We have directed the contractor to give all employees salary slip, hike wages and pay the EPF as per labour laws”, he added.

The HPSEBL board employees protested in front of Kumar House in Shimla and other parts of the state, opposing new Electricity Bill being passed by the Parliament. They demanded withdrawal of the Bill.

The employee union of HP Central Karamchari and Shramik Samnavya Samiti, Shimla, also staged a protest, demanding restoration of the old pension scheme and one rank-one pension for all employees.