THE flash strike by the garment workers in Bangalore and Visakhapatnam, almost simultaneously in the month of April attracted wide attention. The significant features of the strikes were - all these workers were women, they were not members of any trade union and no trade union led the strike in either place. In both the places, the major issue was the government notification banning withdrawal of their money from their PF accounts till retirement.19,000 workers in the Brandix India Apparel City in the Atchutapuram Special Economic Zone in Visakhapatnam were on strike from April 15, 2016.

SINCE the middle of February, 2016, more than one crore beedi workers, mainly in the rural areas, have lost their meagre daily earnings due to shut down by beedi manufacturers in protest against the health ministry’s notification increasing the size of pictorial health warning on tobacco containing products including beedis. This is taking place at a time when vast rural areas in different states are reeling under draught and the rural people are deprived of their earnings from agriculture and the failure of MNREGA to provide alternative jobs in rural areas.

THE 11th conference of Bank Employees Federation of India - Tamilnadu held at Coimbatore from March 25- 27, 2016 has been a milestone in the bank employees’ movement of this part of the country.The reception committee constituted on January 24, 2016 under the chairmanship of P R Natarajan, former MP has done an excellent job in taking care of the delegates and observers and providing a pleasant atmosphere for the smooth conduct of the conference.On March 25, the eighth special women’s conference was held for the first time as a whole day conference.

 THE Joint National Convention of Central Trade Unions and Industrial Federations held in Mavalankar Hall in Delhi on  March 30, 2016 called upon the working class of the country to observe a country wide general strike on September 2, 2016 against the anti-people, anti-national and anti-worker policies of the NDA government.Hundreds of workers from all over the country employed in the organised and unorganised sectors, public and private sectors – from public sector undertakings, banks, insurance, defence, state and central government departments, railways, telecom, port and dock, road tra

THE central trade unions (CTUs), including the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), have observed March 10 as ‘All India Protest Day’ to register their protest against the ‘anti-labour’ policies of the central and some state governments.