Trade Unions defer 2-day countrywide general strike to March

A joint platform of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide general strike on February 23 and 24 during the Budget Session of Parliament. But now they have deferred it to March 28-29, 2022.

New Delhi: The online meeting of the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations/ Associations held on January 28, 2022, has changed the dates for two-day countrywide general strike against the anti-worker, anti-people, anti-national policies of the Union government to March 28-29, 2022 from the earlier dates of 23-24 February 2022.

The meeting recalled the decision of the National Convention of Workers held on 11 November 2021 to organize a two-day countrywide general strike during the Budget Session of Parliament in 2022 and accordingly the dates of the strike on 23-24 February 2022 was decided in the joint meeting of the platform held on 3, December 2021.

The meeting noted that preparations for the strike have taken off in several states and sectors, with joint state-level conventions and even district-level conventions having taken place in some states.

However, several states have also reported severe constraints placed on strike preparations due to the rising third wave of the Omicron pandemic. Besides, several factors such as one phase of state assembly elections in UP falling on 23 February, local body elections in Tamilnadu, Odisha, West Bengal, etc. close to 23-24 February were taken note of. Therefore the Joint Platform of the CTUs and Sectoral Federations/ Associations have decided to defer the general strike dates to 28-29 March 2022, when the second phase of the Budget Session of Parliament will actually be in session, the statement said.

The Joint Platform of CTUs calls upon the working people and their unions irrespective of affiliations to intensify the ongoing preparatory campaign and activities to make the two days countrywide general strike on 28-29 March 2022 a massive success to assert their pledge to 'Save the People' and 'Save the Nation' from the destructive, anti-national policy regime. The Joint Platform also calls upon the workers and their trade unions in the election-bound states to vigorously campaign for defeating the BJP government, whose policies have forced the National Convention of Workers to give a call for two day countrywide strike.