Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday appealed to trade unions to withdraw their proposed two-day countrywide strike from 20th of this month. Dr. Singh said the strike will cause loss to economy and inconvenience to public.

The Prime Minister said he has asked senior ministers A K Antony, Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge and P Chidambaram to hold discussions with the trade unions. He expressed confidence that the discussions will result in the course of action that is acceptable both to the trade unions and the government. The Prime Minister said while some of the issues raised by the trade unions are already being acted upon and others are at various stages of consideration.