The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations and Associations has postponed their nationwide strike in view of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and upcoming elections in several states.
In online meeting held on Friday, the Joint Platform changed the dates for the “Two Days’ Countrywide General Strike Against the Anti-worker, Anti-people, Anti-national Policies of the Government” to March 28-29 from the earlier dates of February 23-24.
The latest meeting recalled the National Convention of Workers’ decision taken on November 11 last year to hold the two-day countrywide general strike during the Budget Session of the Parliament in 2022. As per this decision, the earlier dates of the strike were decided in the meeting of the Joint Platform on December 3, 2021.
At the meeting of the Joint Platform it was noted that the preparations for the strike had taken-off in several states and sectors, with joint state level conventions and district level conventions taking place in some states.
However, despite the preparation, several states have reported severe constraints placed on strike preparations due to the third wave of the pandemic, the Joint Platform said in a statement. Other factors such as one phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections falling on February 23, and local body elections in Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and West Bengal, among others, taking places around the same time led to the postponement of the strike.
“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 trade unions’ body said in a statement.
“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,” it said.
The Joint Platform also called upon workers and trade unions in the poll-bound states to strongly campaign to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose government’s policies have ultimately led to the countrywide strike call.
