New Delhi: Ten major trade unions in the country have called for a strike on 9 July 2023, to protest against what they describe as the government’s anti-worker and anti-farmer policies. This will be called Bharat Bandh and will affect banking, postal services, coal mining, road transport, construction, and interstate bus services in India. Both urban and rural dwellers will experience significant discomfort due to the strike’s nationwide impact.
These influential organisations have supported the protest, particularly the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), and others. Industrial organisations, including the United Farmers’ Union and various farm labour organisations, have also pledged their support for the strike, thereby amplifying its effects, especially in rural areas. It is unnecessary to mention that the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has also declined to join in.
The magnitude of dissent was evident in the comments of Amarjeet Kaur, an AITUC leader, who estimated that over 250 million workers and farmers would participate in the strike. Harbhajan Singh Sidhu of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha also stated that the centre’s move could hinder essential services, including banking, industrial units, coal mines, and interstate transportation, which could already paralyse parts of the economy.
The root cause of the protest is the growing dissatisfaction with government labour policies. The unions blame authorities for ignoring the 17-point charter of demands filed with the Labor Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya. The most important ones are the lack of labour conferences after ten years and the introduction of new labour codes, which, as the unions allege, undermine the rights of workers, subject them to longer hours, and act as a hindrance to union powers. According to Kaur, the government is marginalising workers and siding with the interests of the corporate world.
The demands of the unions are categorical: the four new labour codes must be thrown in the wastebasket, the old pension scheme must be reinstituted, a minimum wage of 26,000/- ($310) must be established every month, an end must be put to contract labour, privatisation of government services like the railways and electricity must be done away with, and an unemployment allowance must be introduced. They assert that the government has allocated 17 trillion (203 billion) to corporations at the expense of workers and farmers.
The strikes were preceded by similar strikes across the United States of equal scale on 26 November 2020, 29 March 2022, and 16 February 2024, the latter two due to similarly motivated industrial action over labour rights and economic policy. The current strike is the latest episode in this ongoing contest.
No formal statements about school or college closures have been announced yet; local authorities will likely decide their course of action depending on the regional situation. With India anticipating the strike, the government has been under pressure to address the union’s demands, or the crisis may worsen.