Mumbai: Operations in the banking, insurance, aviation and telecom sectors across the country were disrupted Wednesday morning after union members affiliated to Left political parties struck work in protest against "anti-labour", "anti-people" and "neo-liberal" policies followed by the government.

Union leaders claim as many as eight million workers are part of the agitation.

Hundreds of Airport Authority of India (AAI) employees also joined the 12-hour strike, citing a number of issues, including privatisation of government airports and better pay and job security for  AAI employees. They staged a demonstration at domestic, international and cargo terminals at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport.

Expectedly, passengers were left stranded at various airports across the country as carriers cancelled flights. Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan Aviation canceled at least 15 flights to and from Kolkata, even as Jet Airways, Indigo, SpiceJet and JetLite announced cancellations of services.

The Indian Air Force has deployed 250 skilled personnel to maintain safety and fire services at 21 airfields across the country at very short notice.

Reports say that all public sector banks, except State Bank of India (SBI), are reporting that services for cheque clearance, cash handling, forex and money market operations are badly affected. Bank employees are protesting against mergers and acquisitions of state-run banks and outsourcing of services.

They are also protesting higher foreign investment in the banking and insurance companies. According to reports, almost 800,000 bank employees from 24 public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) have joined the strike.

The functioning of public sector telecom giant BSNL has also been hit.

Workers have a six-point charter of demands which includes curbing inflation, a comprehensive Unorganised Workers Bill, a comprehensive loan-waiver scheme for farmers, proper implementation of labour laws. They are also opposing the Government's acceptance of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, which they allege favours only officers even as it neglects junior employees.