The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Strike unlikely to hit essential services

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Strike unlikely to hit essential services

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: All the major trade unions will go on a nationwide strike on Thursday on a range of issues surrounding what has been described as the "neo-liberal economic policies" of the Centre. For the average Bangalorean, this will mean not having autorickshaws on the road and several key institutions, such as banks and insurance offices, being inaccessible for a day. But since the call is for a strike and hartal and not a bandh, all essential services will remain unaffected, promise union leaders. Even Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and Karnataka State Transport Corporation buses are expected to ply as usual.

But the trade union leaders are trying to persuade Bangaloreans to look at the larger questions the strike raises. These include demand for measures to check price rise, strengthen the public distribution system and a comprehensive policy to create employment opportunities.

K.S. Vimala of Akhila Bharata Janavaadi Mahila Sanghatane says, "Even the prices of essential foodgrains such as rice and wheat are skyrocketing." This, she points out, especially affects women who are always "the last to eat in any household."

Besides these, the strike will draw attention to specific demands related to some of the most contentious issues of the globalised economy: disinvestment in public sector undertakings, privatisation, freeze on recruitment, enforcement of "anti-labour" laws, outsourcing of work, foreign direct investment (FDI) and so on. These are issues that directly affect State and Central public sector undertakings, government employees, nationalised banks and insurance companies and private companies joining the strike.

Specific concerns

H.K. Geeta, general secretary of the Insurance Corporation Employees' Union, Bangalore Division, points out that among the specific concerns of the insurance sector are privatisation of pension funds, increase in FDI and freeze on recruitment for over a decade.

B. Devadas Rao, vice-president of the Karnataka Pradesh Bank Employees' Federation, says that privatisation in the name of disinvestment and amendment of the Banking Regulation Act are among the specific concerns of the banking sector.

Autorickshaw drivers unions have put forth a demand that is specific to Bangalore. They are demanding withdrawal of a rule recently introduced making a driver violating permit rules liable to imprisonment.

Umesh K.N., general secretary of the Bangalore District Centre for Indian Trade Unions, says that there is also an effort to draw small-scale industries in areas such as Hosur Road, Mysore Road and Peenya, and unorganised labourers such as anganwadi workers and agricultural labourers into the strike.

The Karnataka Prantha Raita Sangha has announced that it will block roads throughout the State in support of the bandh.

However, one section of labour that will remain totally outside the purview of the strike are workers in the information technology and IT-enabled industries, who constitute the most socially and economically visible workforce in Bangalore, which is known for its IT industry.

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