Partial response to trade unions' strike

The one-day strike called by several trade unions across the country partially affected life in the Capital on Tuesday.

The one-day strike called by several trade unions across the country partially affected life in the Capital on Tuesday.

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Thousands of autorickshaws remained off the road causing inconvenience to commuters. Sanitation workers in at least three municipal zones skipped work and participated in the strike. Daily operations were affected at nationalised banks and income tax service centres as thousands of bank and I-T employees skipped office.

The strike was jointly called by several trade unions against price rise, violation of labour laws and disinvestment of profitable public sector undertakings. Better wages was one of the demands.

While majority of autorickshaws and black-and-yellow taxis did not ply till late evening, senior DTC officials said they ran extra buses to ensure commuters were not affected.

"Extra 200 buses were plied for the convenience of passengers," a senior DTC official said.

The strike and the protest march led by workers' unions disrupted traffic in central and east Delhi in the morning. Protest marches at ITO crossing and Telco crossing near Ghazipur caused traffic snarls.

Describing the strike as 'unprecedented', CPI leader and AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta said, "It was beyond our expectations and the overwhelming response is due to the deep indignation of the common man against the UPA government's policies."

The city government had clamped ESMA on power firms, including generation and distribution companies, on Monday evening.

"Precautionary steps taken by the government yielded positive results," chief secretary PK Tripathi said.

Operations in public sector banks were partially hit. Attendance remained thin as most clerical staff abstained from work. Nearly 40,000 bank employees in Delhi participated in the strike.

Gurgaon
The strike had little impact in the city. Transport services were hardly affected, while the IT and BPO sectors functioned as usual. The movement of auto and taxi were normal.