The two-day nationwide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions began in Kerala on Monday, March 28 with almost all institutions downing their shutters. The joint forum has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29, to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.
State-run KSRTC buses did not operate while taxis, auto-rickshaws and private buses kept away from the roads across the state. Commercial vehicles including trucks and lorries are also not plying expressing solidarity with the strike. However, the essential services including milk, newspapers, hospitals, ambulances were not affected.
According to media reports from various parts of the state, certain agitators allegedly tried to prevent employees of private firms from reaching their offices. Meanwhile, police have arranged transport facilities for those who have reached the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station to travel to the Regional Cancer Centre.
The two-day strike by the Joint Platform of central trade unions is to protest against "the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies" of the central government. All employees unions in the state and the country except the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh are taking part in the protest.
The protestors on Monday morning tried to prevent some employees from entering Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in Kochi. Certain employees tried to enter the BPCL premises as the Kerala High Court had on Friday restrained five trade unions from participating in the nationwide strike.
Considering a plea filed by the BPCL challenging the trade unions in the company joining the protest, Justice Amit Rawal had issued an interim order restraining the unions from going on strike according to their call from 7 am on March 28 to 7 am on March 30.
In Tamil Nadu, the two-day national strike called for by various unions had its impact on the public transport sector on Monday as a large number of buses operated by State Transport Undertakings (STU) remained off the road, affecting morning office-goers and others in many places. As a result, autorickshaws were charging exorbitant fares, commuters in different cities complained.
While many had the option of switching to suburban rail services and the Metro Rail in Chennai, same was not the case in other cities of the state and people had to rely on the available thin services of government buses and autorickshaws. The few running buses were packed beyond capacity.
According to reports, a large number of buses operated by the STU stayed off the roads, giving a tough time for the morning officer-goers.
Trade unions took out a rally in Chennai pressing for their demands. Many autorickshaw drivers also joined the protest.
In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions against the central governments policies affected the banking services and production of coal and steel in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
Protesting against the government's plan to privatise public sector banks, as well as the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021, the bank employees joined the strike affecting the services in most of the public sector banks in both the Telugu states.
Coal production in the state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana was hit as the employees struck work to oppose the Union government’s move to auction four coal blocks.
With the majority of 42,000 workers participating in the strike, coal extraction was affected in all 23 underground and 19 open cast mines.
Major trade union Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) affiliated to ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has backed the strike called by INTUC, AITUC, CITU and other central trade unions. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BSM), however, is staying away from the strike.
This is the second strike in SCCL in less than four months. In December last year, the employees had observed a three-day strike to oppose the Union government’s move to auction four coal blocks.
The coal ministry proposes to auction Sattupally open cast Block-3 in Khammam district, Sravanpally open cast Block-3 in Asifabad district, Koya Gudem opencast Block-3 in Bhadradri Kothagudem, and Kalyanakhani underground Block-6 in Mancherial district.
The trade unions have threatened an indefinite strike if the Union government goes ahead with the process of calling tenders for the auction.
The government of Telangana is also strongly opposing the move. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop auctioning of four coal blocks of SCCL.
However, barring banks and SCCL, the strike call did not have much impact in Telangana. The impact was not visible in Hyderabad as RTC buses, cabs and auto-rickshaws plied as usual.
Various trade unions, however, took out rallies to protest the Union government's policies affecting workers, employees and farmers. Leaders of the Left parties led the protests.
Rallies were also taken out in undivided Warangal district. In Hanamkonda, TRS leader and government chief whip Vinay Bhaskar extended support to the protest by workers.
Trade unions, political parties, and students' groups also staged protests in Khammam district to denounce the central government's policies. The protesters did not allow RTC buses to come out of Khammam bus depot.
In Andhra Pradesh, a shutdown is being observed in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam to protest against the Union government’s move to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).
Steel production came to a halt as an overwhelming majority of workers joined the strike. Vehicular traffic was disrupted at various places in and around Visakhapatnam as leaders and workers of all political parties and trade unions staged road blockade in support of the steel plant workers who have been protesting for more than a year.
Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC), which is spearheading the movement against privatisation, has called for the strike.
In Vijayawada, hundreds of workers participated in a rally organised by various trade unions to oppose the Union government’s 'anti-worker' policies.