Transport Workers
25 February: Workers of eight State Transport Undertakings (STUs) went on a state-wide strike in Tamil Nadu against the failure of the state government to conclude wage talks. The most recent wage agreement ended on September 1, 2019, and wage talks haven’t been held since then. The workers and their unions also demanded wage parity with other government employees, allotment of adequate funds to Transport undertakings the by the State government instead of loans, and immediate settlement of retirement benefits.
23 February: Workers of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) went on a one-day strike to protest the state government’s delay in implementing salary revision. Union members said that employees are drawing salaries of 2012 and the management had not taken a favourable decision on their demands.
10 February: Road transport workers held a joint strike across Karnataka demanding timely payment of salaries and a reduction in the work hours. Road Transport Workers’ union also demanded that the State government immediately implement the provisions agreed upon during the negotiations in December 2020 when transport workers went on strike.
Anganwadi Workers
22 February: Anganwadi workers and helpers held sit-in protests outside the collectorate offices in all districts of Tamil Nadu demanding recognition as government employees, timescale salaries, increase in dearness allowance and individual pension and family pension for workers, and also gratuity payment of ₹10 lakh for Anganwadi worker and ₹5 lakh for Anganwadi helper at the time retirement.
18 February: In Jammu & Kashmir, Anganwadi workers staged a protest in Srinagar demanding regularisation of their services, and the immediate release of their wages which have been pending for over a year-and-a-half.
15 February: In Uttarakhand, Anganwadi workers staged a protest in Almora demanding that they be declared government employees and their wages be increased from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 18,000 per month.
Andhra Pradesh: Centre’s proposal to privatise RINL stirs protest across the state
05 February 2021: Thousands of workers employed by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL-VSP) and people throughout the state have been protesting against the Central government’s decision to divest 100% of its shareholding along with management control in the state’s biggest Public Sector Undertaking. RINL-VSP directly employs over 18,000 workers, while another 80,000 people mostly in the city of Visakhapatnam are indirectly employed by the PSU. Unions have been demanding that the Centre withdraw its proposal to privatise RINL-VSP and allocate captive iron ore mines to make the plant profitable.
Power sector workers stage countrywide protests against Central government’s policies of privatisation and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
03 February 2021: Power sector workers staged nationwide protests against the Centre’s policies to privatise the power sector. They demanded that the Central government scrap the process to privatise public sector power distribution companies (discoms) in States and Union Territories. They also held protests across the country demanding that the Centre withdraw the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was tabled in Parliament without being put out in the public domain and without consultations with power sector workers.
Karnataka: Garment workers’ struggle yields victory, over 1,257 workers win reinstatement
01 February 2021: The 8-month long struggle of garment workers whose services were unlawfully terminated by Gokaldas Exports during COVID lockdown has yielded. These workers were part of the global supply chain of major apparel brands such as H&M, GAP, etc. Workers under the banner of Garment and Textile Worker’s Union (GATWU) signed a collective bargaining agreement with Gokaldas Exports which ensures that all workers will be reinstated, provided transport facilities and that the management would recognise GATWU as their representative union.
