New Delhi, March 27: A joint forum of central trade unions, supported by the All India Bank Employees Association, has called for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against a number of government policies affecting workers, farmers and the common man.

The decision comes following a meeting on March 22 where the trade unions said that they would protest against the Centre’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies”. The bank unions are participating to protest against the government’s plan to privatise public sector banks, as well as the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021.

Roadways, transport workers and electricity workers have decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).  Fuel Price Hike: Petrol, Diesel Prices Rise for Fifth Time in 6 Days; Petrol Up by 50 Paise, Diesel Up 55 Paise

The power ministry has written to all states governments and electricity authorities asking them to ensure normal functioning of the electricity supply during the strike of the employees. Shutdown activities planned during these two days may be rescheduled to suitable future dates, the ministry said. Additional manpower may be deployed at all critical power stations to handle any emergency conditions.   LPG Cylinder Price Hike: Cooking Gas Price Hiked by Rs 50 Per Cylinder

Financial sectors, including banking and insurance, are joining the strike. The strike notices have been given by unions in the sectors such as coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks, insurance among others, the statement said.

The unions in railways and defence sector would be making mass mobilisation in support of the strike at several hundreds of spots, it stated.

The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has said banking services may get impacted due to the strike. "We advise that while the bank has made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices on the days of strike, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted to a limited extent, by the strike," SBI said in a regulatory filing.

The West Bengal government on Saturday said all offices will remain open on those days and mandated employees to report for duty.

The central trade unions which are part of this joint forum are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2022 09:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).