Chennai: Services like banking, public transport and telecom may be affected in Tamil Nadu on Friday as 10 central trade unions (CTUs) will go on one-day nationwide strike against government’s ‘anti-worker policies’ and ‘indifference’ towards their demands.
Though the unions have claimed that this year’s strike will be bigger as the number of striking workers is expected to swell to as much as 18 crore, the impact in Tamil Nadu will mainly be in banking.
All banks will be closed on Friday while in the transport sector only DMK supported Labour Progressive Front (LPF) and unions affiliated to left parties have announced their support to the nationwide bandh. However ATMs and money deposit machines are expected to function normally on Friday in TN.
All cooperative banks in Tamil Nadu will also be closed. A few auto rickshaw unions have supported the bandh call and some may stay off the roads on Friday.
“We are expecting a good response for the strike as all the trade unions except the AIADMK affiliated Anna Thozhir Sanga Peravai are supporting it. All the essential services like banks, transport and public sector enterprise will be hit by the strike. All our workers will absent themselves from the work,”
M. Shanmugham, general secretary of DMK’s LPF told Deccan Chronicle. “The ruling party may try to operate government buses with workers affiliated to its trade union. It will be negligible,” he claimed.
Many banks have already communicated to their customers about likely inconvenience. Unions like All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), and Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC) have served notice, saying they will go on a one-day strike on September 2.
There is a continuous attempt by the government to push their reforms agenda aimed at privatisation of banks, consolidation and merger of banks and the like, said AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam.
