Mining activities in Jharkhand remained badly affected due to the day-long strike called by the trade unions, but it failed to affect normal life here on Friday. Thousands of private and Government employees in Jharkhand, affiliated to local and national trade unions in transport, banking, telecom, mining and several other sectors, joined the day-long, countrywide strike to push for a 12-point charter of demands that includes better pay and pro-labour laws.
“Strike was a complete success. Now, it is for the Government to think how they will resolve the problems related the labourers or the movement will get intensified further in the State,” said State president of Indian Confederation of labour Ajay Rai. The demands made by the trade unions are not unjustified from any point of view, he said.
“We demand minimum wage of Rs 18,000 for labourers. The people working in PSUs and other sectors should also be given social security cover,” added Rai. The Government needs to make amendments in the minimum wages for the labourers working in the industrial sectors, he said.
Sources also revealed that 90 per cent of mining activities in CCl and BCCl got affected during the strike. Trade union leaders came out on roads in support of their demands.
“Mining activities at Central Coalfield limited (CCl) and Bharat Coking Coalfield limited (BCCl) came to a complete halt as most of the staff involved in mining remained absent,” said a trade union leader.
Day to day work at Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) in Ranchi along with banking services was also largely affected due to the strike. Attendance in the telecom and Public Sector Units (PSU) also remained thin during the day.
A joint press note released by central trade unions also claimed that the impact of all India strike was unprecedented in Jharkhand. The trade unions congratulate the working class of Jharkhand for their participation in the strike. This strike, according to them, was an exemplary expression of working people’s commitment to fight back the onslaughts of neo-liberal economic policies.
As per the reports available with the trade unions, strike was complete in BCCl, CCl, CMPDI, ECl (Jharkhand Portion) with record-breaking effect except in one mine - Chitra of ECl). 139 protesting workers were arrested in Rajmahal while 60 workers in Chitra were put behind bars.
CCl officials, however, claimed that despite the fact that 50 per cent of the labourers were absent, production on Friday remained more than Thursday. “Though transportation remained affected during the strike, more than 50 per cent of the staff remained present on Friday. Total production during the first shift on Friday was 41 thousand tonnes against 40,000 tonnes on Thursday,” said CCl Spokesperson Deepak Kumar. Routine work however remained normal Steel Authority of India limited (SAIl), leading steel producer in the country with more than 80,000 employees in different parts of the country, registered overall attendance of 94 per cent.
Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries President Pawan Agrawal claimed that the strike could not make an impact on the day to day business in the wake of the facility of online system. “Business continued throughout the day through online transaction without hampering the normal business across the State,” said Agrawal.