There was mixed response to the nationwide general strike called by the trade unions here on Tuesday.
The private express buses and the KSRTC buses were off the road. This affected the people going to Mangalore, Kundapur, and Karkala in the district. The city buses stopped plying after 9.45 a.m. As a result, autorickshaws made a brisk business.
While some schools and colleges had declared holidays, some others had not. Most of the business establishments were open in the city.
Members of the Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) took out a procession from the LIC Divisional Office. The procession passed through Jodu Katte, Kavi Muddana Road, Gandhi Circle, BSNL Office, and culminated near Corporation Bank Founder's Branch. Speaking on the occasion, JCTU district convener Admar Sripathi Acharya said that the Centre should take steps to contain price rise, link employment protection with incentive package offered for entrepreneurs, enforce labour laws strictly, provide universal social security cover for workers of the unorganised sector, and create a National Social Security Fund. The Government should stop privatising profit-making public sector units (PSUs). He urged the Government to amend the Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage and fix Rs. 10,000 as statutory minimum wage per month.
JCTU leaders P. Vishwanath Rai, Dogu Suvarna, K.V. Bhat, Sanjeeva Sherigar, Balagangadhar, Murali Shetty, U. Gurudutt, and Prabhakar B. Kundar, Shashidhar Golla, Kamalaksha Kamath, and Madhusudhan Heroor were present.