MP: 25,000 defence staff report late amid strike
BHOPAL [Maha Media]: Over 25,000 civilian employees working with defence establishments across Madhya Pradesh reported to work an hour late on Thursday in support of the nationwide trade union strike, the All-India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) said.
The daylong strike is being observed to protest against what the unions described as anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national pro-corporate policies of the central government.
More than 25,000 civilian workers posted at six ordnance factories in the state, the 506 Army Base Workshop, the Central Ordnance Depot and Military Engineer Services reported for duty an hour late as a mark of protest, AIDEF president S N Pathak told PTI over the phone.
“We could not observe a complete daylong strike as defence production and related work fall under the essential services category,” he said.
Instead of reporting at 8 am, the workers started duty at 9 am, Pathak added.
Workers affiliated with different unions were seen protesting and raising anti-government slogans at some places across MP.
The joint forum of central trade unions that has called for the strike claimed that around 30 crore workers have been mobilised for the agitation.
Their immediate demands include the scrapping of four labour codes and rules, withdrawal of the Draft Seed Bill and Electricity Amendment Bill, and the “Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act”.
The unions are also demanding the restoration of MGNREGA and the scrapping of the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. The joint forum includes INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.
