Sept 2 nationwide strike News

Public transport services were disrupted and banking and insurance operations deranged as more than a million employees across the country struck work against "anti-labour" policies, bringing life to a standstill in parts of some states like Kerala.

The all-India strike by central trade unions affecting trade, transport, key manufacturing facilities and banking services may cause an estimated loss of Rs 16,000-18,000 crore to the country's economy, an industry body said Friday.  

Normal life in various parts of the country was partly affected on Friday by the one-day nationwide strike by trade unions with banking, transport and coal mining being among the most impacted, while hundreds of workers were detained in Haryana, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Trade union leaders claimed that the strike would be even bigger than the one last year on September 2 and expected the number of striking workers to swell to as much as 18 crore.

Essential services such as banking, public transport and telecom may be hit Friday as 10 central trade unions (CTUs) will go on one-day nationwide strike against government's "indifference" towards their demands and effecting "anti-worker" changes in labour laws.

As many as 10 central trade unions will go ahead with the general strike on Friday saying the government gave no heed to their 12-point charter of demands and is continuing with unilateral labour reforms.