|
Noida/Ghaziabad, Feb 20 (IANS) The two-day nationwide strike called by major trade unions partially affected life in the National Capital Region towns of Noida and Ghaziabad Wednesday. In Noida, mobs of workers attacked factories that were open and set fire to vehicles of their owners as well as to fire tenders. At least one factory complex was torched, officials and witnesses said. A hosiery unit in Noida was ransacked after workers hurled stones at it, police sources said. Police said trade union workers protesting at Phase 2 in Noida halted traffic and turned violent. They damaged public and private vehicles on the streets. They clashed with police, who resorted to mild force to disperse the mob. In Greater Noida, strike supporters stoned factories and outlets in Sectors 81, 82 and 84. Glass panes in many factories were shattered even as the security guards tried to pacify the mobs and later fired in the air to disperse them, a police officer told IANS. Road traffic was hit at many places in Greater Noida and Noida because of the violence. No untoward incident was reported from adjoining Ghaziabad where banks remained closed and the public transport system was partially disrupted. Post offices were also shut. Eleven major trade unions have called a two-day all-India strike to press for demands like concrete measures to counter inflation, steps for employment generation, job security, universal social security, and hiking the minimum wage to Rs.10,000 per month along with daily allowance.
| 
