Workers affiliated to various trade unions staged a protest near the Coimbatore Collectorate on Friday morning, as part of the all-India general strike. Around 1,200 of those workers courted arrest.
The nation-wide strike on Friday affected some segments in the district. According to trade union leaders here, the strike was a success. Movement of cargo vehicles were hit. At industries, members of trade unions participated in the strike.
Trade sources said that shops were kept open and business was as usual. According to industries, operations were not affected by the strike, be it at textiles or engineering units. Banks were kept open. But, transactions were not much as very few customers came to the banks because of the strike. Except officers, other unions took part in the strike, said a bank officer here.
Speaking at the protest, All India Trade Union Congress leader vice president M. Arumugham said that the protest was against the anti-labour polices of the Central Government that tried to deny labourers their hard-fought rights through amendments to laws.
In Coimbatore, workers from spinning mills, manufacturing industries and small and medium enterprises were part of the strike. The protest was also against the State Government that did not support the strike by operating buses, he added.
Members of LMW workers’ union, two-wheeler mechanics’ association from Coimbatore and Palladam, goldsmiths’ association affiliated to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board workers’ union, bank employees’ union were among those who participated in the protest. The trade unions that participated included AITUC, CITU, INTUC, LPF, AICCTU, MLF, HMS and a few others.
Sources said that around 150 members of the NDLF staged a protest in Gandhipuram. Workers affiliated to the fair price shop employees’ union staged a protest near Red Cross Junction. Around 35 members courted arrest. Workers affiliated to the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union staged a protest on Good Shed Road and 120 of those courted arrest. Likewise, employees protested near the LIC office on Trichy Road.
Even as the protesters continued shouting slogans, shops on Oppanakara Street, Variety Hall Road, N.H. Road, Cross Cut Road, 100 Feet Road and other busy thoroughfares of the city remained open. Small establishments in Kattoor and other parts of the city continued doing business as usual.
Coimbatore City Police sources said that no untoward incident was reported in the city. In the rural areas of the district, trade union members staged protest at five places in Pollachi.
According to a press release from the Joint Council of Action of Income Tax Employees Federation and Income Tax Gazetted Officers’ Association, Tamil Nadu Unit, the strike was against the neo liberal economic policies of the successive governments that came to power since 1991. They abstained from work and stayed in front of the office at Race Course in the city.
TirupurThe general strike called by various trade unions evoked varied response in the district. Most of the shops and almost 95 per cent of the textile units in Tirupur knitwear cluster functioned as usual. Public transport bus services too were not affected, though a good chunk of auto rickshaws kept off the road.
The functioning of the revenue department was affected to a great extent.
According to Revenue Officials Association district secretary S. Murugadoss, as many as 242 out of the total 291 employees in the revenue department from the rank of office assistant to Tahsildar in the district did not attend work.
In the banking sector, employees from the rank of sub-staff to Scale-III managers in banks except those employed in State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and few private sector new generation banks took part in the strike. As many as 650 members of nearly 10 trade unions were arrested when they staged various types of agitations at a total of 12 places spread over the district.
