People's Democracy

SECTORAL REPORTS

The following is a brief report of the response to the December 14 strike in various sectors:

Airport

Airport workers in 124 airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Kolkata observed strike. They held dharna in front of the airports. 

Coal

SECL, BCCL, WCL and NCL witnessed total strike. In North Eastern Coalfield, the strike was 60 per cent. In several coal belts, INTUC and BMS opposed the strike. Despite such opposition the strike was successful. In Mahanadi Coalfields there was 50 per cent strike. 

Defence

More than 3 lakh defence civilian employees working in the 39 Ordnance factories, 35 DRDO laboratories, military engineer services and other establishments under Army, Navy and Air Force throughout the country participated in the strike. 

Port & Dock industry

All ports were closed due to complete strike.

Telecom

Both in VSNL and MTNL, the response to the strike was very good. Telecom employees and workers in states like West Bengal, Assam, North Eastern, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal participated in the strike. Though INTUC did not officially join the strike, workers belonging to INTUC extended their support to the strike.

Oil sector

The strike was total in the oil sector, including the refineries. 

Banks & Insurance

The financial sector was completely paralysed due to massive participation of employees and officers in the strike. 

Postal Department

Out of 5.5 lakh postal employees, 70 per cent employees went on strike. The strike was 100 per cent in states like Tamilnadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh. The strike was near total in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.

Central Govt Employees

About 2 million central government employees observed strike through out the country. In Tamilnadu, the central government employees in income tax offices, AGs Office etc joined the strike en masse .In Karnataka 80 per cent of employees abstained from work. In Audit & Accounts, the strike was 70 per cent. In Geological Survey of India, the strike was 60 per cent while in Ground Water Board it was 80 per cent and in Printing & Stationery around 60-70 per cent. 

State Govt Employees

More than 10 million state government employees, teachers, employees of state public sector, board and corporation and teaching institutions participated in the general strike. Full strike has taken place in Kashmir, Haryana, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, UP, MP, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and fairly good strike in Punjab, Rajasthan and Orissa.

In Hailakandi district of Assam, six state government employees have been arrested. In Silchar, the police beat up one woman leader. Scores of employees, including 400 women, demonstrated before the DC office demanding action against the police.

In Haryana, the authorities served court order prohibiting demonstrations within 100 metres of government offices. 

In the unorganised sector, workers in Anganwadi, beedi, plantation , home based sector and others participated in full strength. 

Textiles, cement, FCI and other sectors also reported full strike in various units across the country.