Little impact of trade union strike in Jharkhand

Jharkhand witnessed negligible impact of the nationwide strike called by different trade unions on Wednesday.

The strike, called by 10 pan-India trade unions, hardly had any impact on the Central Coalfield Limited (CCL). "Of the total 8,293 employees, only 732 were absent on Wednesday," an official of the CCL told IANS.

Similarly, there was hardly any impact on coal production at the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

The major demands of the protesting trade unions are that the Centre should drop the proposed labour reforms, raise minimum wage in the range of Rs 21,000-Rs 24,000 per month, and stop privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs).

Other demands include opposition to privatisation of railways and corporatisation of 49 defence production units, merging 44 labour laws into four codes and the repealing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

However, a CITU Jharkahnd release said: "The trade unions congratulate the working class of Jharkhand for their militant participation in the strike. This strike is an exemplary expression of working people's commitment to fight back the onslaughts of neo-liberal economy policies."IANS