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Trade union strike peaceful in Noida, Gzb
Noida/Ghaziabad: A nationwide strike called by trade unions to raise issues concerning labour rights went off peacefully in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad Wednesday.
Lakhs of workers attached to 10 central trade unions went on a nationwide strike against the government’s decisions on disinvestment, privatisation and labour reform policies.
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) took part in the strike.
Hundreds of daily wage earners joined the protest organised by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in Noida.
Protesters handed over memorandums concerning labour rights to the Noida authority and the city magistrate in the afternoon. The District administration and police department were on alert in view of the strike.
Protesters from different trade unions organised rallies in Noida sectors 11, 8, 2, 30, 37, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63 and 64. Hundreds of daily wage earners working with various organisations took part in the rally.
The trade unions in their memorandum has demanded an increase in minimum wages of daily wage earners, provision of basic facilities like clean water, electricity, sewer and better roads in areas where most daily wage earners’ colonies are located such as the ones near Hindon river, in Bhangel, Nangla and other underdeveloped areas.
“We have demanded that the minimum wage for Class 4 employees should be ₹21,000 a month. Currently, in Uttar Pradesh, it is ₹8,000 and in Delhi, it is around ₹15,000. We are also against the privatisation of government facilities such as the Railways. We want the government to ensure that rights of the labour class are taken care of,” Gangeshwar Dutt Sharma, district president, CITU, said.
City magistrate Shailendra Mishra said the strike went off peacefully in the district and no inconvenience was caused to the common man. “Everything went off peacefully in the district,” BN Singh, district magistrate, said.
The protests in Ghaziabad were mostly carried out by trade unions and their members in the different industrial areas and no untoward incident was reported.
“The protests were carried out in industrial areas such as South Side GT Road, Sahibabad Site 4 and Meerut Road, among others. Police presence was high and there was no untoward incident — our members did not block roads keeping in mind the convenience of the public,” JP Shukla, district general secretary, CITU, said.
“The protests remained peaceful and there was no disruption of local transport whatsoever,” Dilshad Ahmad, Ghaziabad auto-rickshaw Chalak Sangh, said.