'Bharat Bandh' Called by Trade Unions on Jan 8 to Protest 'CAA'

Guwahati, December 30, 2019:

A front of Central Trade Unions has called for a countrywide general strike on January 8, 2020 to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Trade Unions and Workers’ Federation of Assam will be observing the strike demanding the withdrawal of the “unconstitutional and communal” CAA. The members have listed down at least eleven demands, one of them also being the unconditional release of the people arrested during the CAA protests.

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In Assam’s Jorhat district, the strike will be observed by the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hindu Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), contractual employees of BSNL, mid-day meal workers, Anganwadi workers and many more.

The trade unions demand employment generation and also the privatization of the public sector companies. The strike has been called for to protest against the rising prices of daily utilities and labour laws that strip them off their rights.

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It may be mentioned here that on Saturday, the United Workmen Union (UWU) had staged a sit-in-demonstration demanding the release of people arrested in the anti-CAA protest. The other demands raised by the union included – solving the pending issues, ensuring 80 percent employment of indigenous candidates in new projects taken up by Guwahati Refinery, scrapping the anti-labourer policies, checking prices of essential commodities etc.

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