INDIA bloc’s Bihar bandh hijacked trade union strike: Union leaders

New Delhi: Political parties "hijacked" the general strike called by trade unions by announcing a "bandh" over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, a senior trade union functionary said on Wednesday.

The general strike was observed against the new Labour Codes and other issues on Wednesday, while Bihar witnessed a "bandh" called by opposition parties against the ongoing SIR.

Also read: Bihar bandh: INDIA bloc’s big test ahead of elections

At the beginning of the bandh called by the INDIA bloc, NewsDrum had written that Bihar bandh sought to ride on the countrywide bandh called by trade unions, which involved more than 25 crore workers from banking, construction, mining, postal, and transport sectors.

"The Mahagathbandhan expected that the combined impact of both bandh calls would appear larger than life and push the bloc’s cause further," the report said.

At a protest called by 10 central trade unions at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) president Harbhajan Singh Sidhu slammed the opposition parties, accusing them of not speaking up on workers' issues.

Singh said while they are fighting against the BJP-led Centre's policies, the INDIA opposition bloc has also not uttered a single word about the Labour Codes and other issues affecting workers.

"Some political parties hijacked our programme. They announced a bandh in Bihar, but did not say a word about us. If they had to do a 'Bihar bandh', they could have done it a few days later. The INDIA bloc has not spoken a word about us. Political parties should not have hijacked our strike, and if they were doing it, it should have been done for our demands," he said.

Meanwhile, All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said the general strike saw action across the country and there was a "bandh-like situation" in Puducherry, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka.

She said more than 25 crore people participated in the "rasta roko" and "rail roko" programmes all over the country -- in the formal and informal sectors, public sector enterprises and industrial areas.

"There was a very large mobilisation in rural India by informal-sector workers, agricultural labourers and farmers. The rank and file of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and a joint front of agricultural labour unions played a significant role in the mobilisation," Kaur said.

She accused the Centre of pushing states to bring laws that are there in the Labour Codes.

"The trade unions are very clear. Whether it is a state government or the Union government, our labour laws -- that we won after a 150-year struggle from the British period to independent India -- we will not tolerate any attempt at taking away those rights," Kaur said.

"The PMO is forcing state governments to implement labour codes in their state labour laws," she alleged.

INTUC vice-president Ashok Singh slammed the Centre for not holding the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), a key tripartite consultative body, for the last 10 years.

CITU general secretary Tapan Sen said they are also opposed to the free-trade agreement with the United States, which is currently under negotiation.

Rajiv Dimri of the AICCTU, meanwhile, raised the issue of migrant workers being impacted by the SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar.

"The Election Commission says, one should vote where they work, and in Delhi, their houses are being bulldozed," Dimri said.

In a statement, the trade unions said unions in coal, NMDC Ltd, other non-coal minerals such as copper, bauxite, aluminium, gold mines etc., steel, banks, LIC, GIC, petroleum, electricity, postal, grameen dak sevaks, telecom, tea plantations, jute mills, public transport, various types of transport in the private sector, besides state government employees in various sectors, observed the strike.

They said defence sector employees held protest gate meetings for an hour in support of the strike and joined office only after that. The railway unions mobilised and participated in solidarity actions.

The unions of construction, beedi, anganwadi, ASHA, mid-day meal, domestic workers, hawkers and vendors, home-based piece-rate workers and rickshaw, autorickshaw and taxi drivers were among those who participated in "rasta roko" and "rail roko" at several places.

The statement added that this is "the beginning of the prolonged battle in the days to follow".

The general strike was observed across the country on Wednesday to protest against the new Labour Codes and privatisation, and press for demands such as a minimum wage of Rs 26,000 and bringing back the old pension scheme.