Left unions that have called a nation-wide general strike on Wednesday against Delhi’s “anti-people economic policies” are determined to shut down Calcutta, if not the rest of the country.

The Citu-affiliated All India Airport Employees’ and Workers’ Union on Monday advised people booked on flights from the city on that day not to bother travelling to the airport. “We are appealing to passengers not to come to the airport,” said Amitabha Nandi, the CPM Lok Sabha member from Dum Dum who also heads the union.

Rail services and work in the Salt Lake Electronics Complex and factories along the Hooghly are likely to be paralysed, too.

Nandi said more than 70,000 airport employees, including permanent staff of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and contract workers of various airlines, would stay away from work. “Airlines should think twice before operating flights on that day as there will be no loaders or other ground staff at the airport.”

Only Air Traffic Control and staff involved in emergency operations will report for duty.

Whenever an Opposition party calls a bandh, the government ensures that its 8,000-strong fleet of state buses is out on the roads. Transport department officials said they hadn’t been told what to do on Wednesday. “We have yet to receive any directive from the state government on this. The CSTC (Calcutta State Transport Corporation) management is meeting on Tuesday to discuss this,” said S.N. Pal, the corporation’s managing director.

The railways said all trains would run “provided there are no obstructions”. But officials privately admitted that both suburban and long-distance trains were likely to be disrupted because of possible blockades by bandh enforcers.

A senior AAI official said the Indian Air Force had been requested to help in maintaining “emergency services”, though that didn’t stop airlines from contemplating cancellation of most flights scheduled for Wednesday.

“All airlines will probably be taking a decision on cancellation of flights on Tuesday. Some private operators are planning to advance the timings of their morning flights so that the planes take off before the strike starts,” a source said.

Officials of some airlines said passengers had already begun cancelling tickets.

At Sector V, the city’s tech hub, companies braced for another day of low attendance and financial losses. “What makes this strike worse is that it is for 24 hours. So, our employees who commute by train might have to stay back on Tuesday. It is a logistical challenge,” said Kalyan Kar, the managing director of Acclaris.

Representatives of IT companies have met officials of the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority, which is in charge of civic affairs in Sector V, to discuss the measures that could be taken to prevent the Left strike from affecting work.