A strike by employees of India's leftist trade unions on Thursday paralyzed the states of West Bengal and Kerala and affected services at airports and in the banking sector across the country, DPA reported. Only a handful of flights operated from the state capitals of West Bengal and Kerala, which are both governed by leftist coalitions. Buses and cars remained off the roads, and rail service came to a standstill as groups of striking employees squatted on railway tracks, the PTI news agency reported. Shops left their shutters down, and most offices and educational institutions were closed. There was also little activity at Calcutta's usually busy port. In other states and the national capital, New Delhi, the strike's impact was largely restricted to air and banking services. Several airlines cancelled, rescheduled or combined flights. The striking unions have about 40 million members, mostly employees of state-run concerns, including banks, the insurance sector and the Airport Authority of India. The daylong strike was called to protest the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's economic liberalization, including the proposed privatization of Delhi's and Bombay's airports, foreign investment in airports and pension funds, divestment of state-run companies and changes in labour laws.
