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Thursday, Aug 09, 2007
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CITU strike affects life in West Bengal

Staff Reporter

“Hope the strike will prompt the Centre to enact a comprehensive law to protect workers’ interests”

KOLKATA: Normal life was partially affected in the city as well as the rest of West Bengal on Wednesday on account of the nationwide 24-hour strike in the unorganised sector called by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).

With taxis and auto-rickshaws being included within the ambit of the strike, regular traffic was disrupted and roads remained relatively empty. Passengers alighting at Howrah and Sealdah sections faced inconveniences due to lack of taxis. Special buses were provided by the State Government for passengers arriving at the city’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport. Privately owned and chartered buses as well as school buses were, however, kept out of the strike’s purview.

Describing the response to the strike as “unprecedented”, CITU’s State president Shyamal Chakraborty said that “it was beyond our imagination.”

Emergency services

With emergency services and essential services not included in the strike call, around 10 million of the State’s 14-million-strong workforce in the unorganised sector participated in it, he said. Till the evening there were no reports of any worker in the cities or villages having defied the strike call, Mr. Chakraborty claimed.

“I hope the Central Government will be adequately cautioned by this strike and enact a comprehensive legislation to protect the interests of the workers, restoring the recommendations of the Arjun Sengupta-led National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector,” he added.

“We have suggested collecting cess from the owners to raise resources, a measure already in practice in parts of the country,” he added.

Abolition of the contract working system, equal pay for equal work and special facilities for women workers are some of the demands made by CITU in its 15-point charter.

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