Strike hits normal life in Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh: State-run buses services were affected in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh following the all-India strike call given by various trade organizations on Wednesday. People faced problems as Haryana Roadways buses went off the roads. The employees of Punjab Roadways also joined the strike and stopped plying buses. “We are opposing the new labour laws. We have other local demands also, like our opposition to privatisation of bus routes,” Parveen Kumar, a Haryana Roadways employee, told IANS. The strike, however, did not have much impact on most of the public sector banks as Class 3 and 4 employees have joined the strike. “The banks are functioning. Only a section of employees have gone on strike today (Wednesday),” said Sanjeev Kumar, an official of the State Bank of India. The nursing staff in government-run hospitals and employees of a few other government establishments also joined the strike.