Strike called by left trade unions affects life

Imphal, Aug 18: The Sponsoring Committee of Trade Union in Manipur on Wednesday, Aug 20 observed a 12-hour strike, disrupting normal life, to protest the ''anti-worker policies'' of the UPA government.

Supporting the nationwide strike called by seven Left-wing Central Trade Union, the trade unions in Manipur came out in full strength for the state-wide strike from5 am to 5 pm to make the shutdown successful.

The streets were deserted and so far no untoward incident was reported during the strike, police said.

Sponsoring Committee of Trade Union convenor L Sotinkumar said the general strike was a part of the nationwide agitation against the UPA government to revoke its ''anti-worker policies''.

It also demanded that the UPA government should stop ''commercialisation'' of education and health care, apart from reducing the prices of essential commodities.

Meanwhile, the air trafic was disrupted as the ground staff of the Airport Authority of India suspended their work. The flight service was also suspended.

All the inter state bus services were also cancelled and the employees of the telecom, postal, bank, insurance and other government departments did not attend their workplaces. All the business establishments were also closed down.

UNI