A nationwide strike, termed ‘Bharat Bandh’, is set to disrupt services across India on Wednesday, July 9th, with projections indicating participation from over 25 crore workers spanning diverse sectors. The protest is being coordinated by a forum of ten central trade unions and their affiliated groups, according to reports from news agency PTI.
Workers from banking, insurance, highway and construction, postal services, coal mining, and other formal and informal sectors are expected to join the industrial action. Farmers and rural workers will also participate in the nationwide protest, stated Amarjeet Kaur, a representative of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), as reported by PTI.
The trade union forum, in an official statement cited by PTI, called on workers to ensure the strike is a “grand success.” It confirmed that unions across all sectors have been preparing extensively for the shutdown.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The forum explicitly stated the strike is a direct response to what it labels the central government’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national pro-corporate policies.” PTI reported that the unions had presented a 17-point charter of demands to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last year.
The forum alleges the government is prioritizing “ease of doing business” and favouring employers while acting against worker interests. It further accused the government of neglecting workers’ concerns, highlighting that the annual labour conference hasn’t been convened for a decade.
A key grievance is the imposition of four new labour codes, which the unions claim are designed to undermine collective bargaining rights. The forum contends the government’s economic approach has resulted in heightened unemployment, increased prices for essential goods, reduced wages, and cuts to social sector spending, as per PTI.
Among its core demands, the forum insists the government must urgently tackle unemployment, generate more jobs, and increase wages for workers under the MGNREGA scheme. The statement criticized the government for focusing on schemes like the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI), which it claims primarily benefits employers.
(With inputs from PTI)