Support sought for strike

Rajamahendravaram: AITUC, INTUC and IFTU trade unions organised a bike rally in the city on Wednesday, appealing to the people to make the country-wide general strike on September 2, a huge success. The rally commenced at Kambala tank and culminated at RTC Complex.

The trade union leaders addressed auto drivers, car drivers, lorry drivers and RTC workers at various junctions and asked them to participate actively in the strike on September 2. The rally was characterized by slogans against the policies of the Central and State governments, which the leaders said were not in the interests of the working classes.

CITU leader SS Murthy, CPM leader T Arun, INTUC leader NV Srinivas, AITUC leader Meesala Satyanarayana and IFTU leader Ramana addressed the people during the rally. They alleged that governments were trying to dilute the general strike which has been getting widespread support all over the country. They faulted the minimum wages announced by the Centre and said the revised wages were not in tune with the skyrocketing prices.

They observed that workers were getting salaries according to the prices that existed 10 years ago and lamented that the government was not taking any steps to solve the demands of the workers.

They said the government had made clear its intention of denying workers their rights and said workers had every right to protest when their very existence was at stake. They alleged that the BJP government was trying to reduce the working hours of workers from 12 hours to 8 hours.

The general strike on September 2 was for a proper pension, PF and ESI benefits and to protect the public sector, they said. CITU division president, secretaries SR Mohan and N Ranga, AITUC leader Nalla Rama Rao and IFTU leader Joji were also present.