Autos may be off the roads today

Tuesday could be a bad day for Mumbai's commuters as autos and cabs may be off the roads in response to a call for an all-India strike by central trade unions.

Tuesday could be a bad day for Mumbai's commuters as autos and cabs may be off the roads in response to a call for an all-India strike by central trade unions.

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Sharad Rao, trade unionist whose unions hold sway in the civic body and among cab and auto drivers, said: "We have appealed to auto and taxi unions and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation staff to join the strike."

If civic workers join the stir, Mumbai's civic needs – garbage clearance, cleaning gutters and nullahs, among other things - will not be unattended to.

The taxi union said it would not take part in the stir. "We won't participate," said A. Quadros, general secretary, Mumbai Taxi Union.

State transport buses and those run by the BEST will also ply. The nation-wide strike has been called by central trade unions and industry federations that include banks, insurance, oil, coal, defence, civil aviation, public sector companies, etc., to protest price rise, job losses, violation of labour laws and disinvestments in the public sector units.