Indian Railways Staffs are planning to go on a nationwide indefinite strike in October 2013, which can bring whole of the nation to a standstill. The proposed strike would bring both passenger and freight operations to a halt. About 11,000 trains traverse the 65,000 km network, carrying about 23 million passengers on a daily basis.
According to Reports, Indian Railways’ largest employee union – the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) – has issued a call to its 1.4 million workers to strike work, kicking off a process that could bring the utility to a halt by October this year.
Indian Railways is deemed to be the Lifeline of the Nation
“We believe in industrial peace, but since we are not considered relevant by the government of the day, we have been forced to show our relevance by resorting to an indefinite strike,” says AIRFÂ General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra, stressing that railwaymen were not looking for some new sops, but wanted the Centre to stick to its past promises relating to the Pay Commission recommendations.
The AIRF demands include setting up of the seventh pay commission, disbursal of the sixth pay commission arrears of the running staff, and reverting to the old pension scheme.
“We are getting in touch with the other central government employees’ unions as almost 50% of the issues we are fighting for are common. This will take at least three months, after which we will go on strike.†said Mishra while talking to media in June.
The Last time Indian Railways Employees went on a Strike was in 1974 led then India Railwaymen’s Federation George Fernandes, who later became India’s Defense Minister in Vajpayee led NDA Government.
The strike commenced on 8 May 1974. The strike was brutally suppressed by Indira Gandhi government with thousands being sent to jail and losing their jobs.In Chennai it was under C.Bala Krishnan and Sakthidasan. The strike was called off on 27 May 1974.
The strike was the result of grievances by railway workers that had been built up over two decades before the strike. Though there were three Pay commissions between 1947 to 1974, none of them increased the cost of living of the workers. In February 1974, the National Coordinating Committee for Railwaymen’s Struggle (NCRRS) was formed to bring all the railway unions, the central trade unions and political parties in the Opposition together to prepare for the strike to start on 8 May 1974. In Bombay, electricity and transport workers, as well as taxi drivers joined the protests.
In Gaya, Bihar, striking workers and their families squatted on the tracks. More than 10,000 workers of the Integral Coach Factory in Madras marched to the Southern Railway headquarters to express their solidarity with the striking workers. Similar protests erupted across the country.
The strike provoked strong government reactions and massive arrests.According to Amnesty International, 30,000 trade unionists were detained, most held under preventive detention laws. Those arrested included not only members of the strike action committee and trade unionists, but also railwaymen who participated in the strike.
The strike was called off unilaterally on 27 May 1974 by the Action Committee. As explained later by Fernandes, “the strike was called off because those conducting the strike had started speaking in different voices.” Although large number of prisoners were released, among them Fernandes, thousands remained in detention, charged with specific offences.
The strike led to a sense of insecurity and threat that led to Indira Gandhi’s imposition of the Emergency era in 1975. Previous strikes were aimed at companies or industries, but this strike was aimed at the government, and from its ramifications proved to be the most successful of disastrous industrial actions in Indian history.