Bharat Bandh Protest Live: Over 25 crore workers to join all India strike today as unions protest labour codes, price rise
Bharat Bandh News Today Live: A coalition of ten central trade unions has announced a nationwide Bharat Bandh to protest what it calls the government's 'anti-worker and pro-corporate policies.' Over 25 crore workers, along with farmers and rural labourers, are expected to join. Banking, postal services, coal mining, factories, and state transport will be affected. Bharat Bandh News Today Live: A coalition of ten central trade unions and allied organisations has announced a nationwide general strike, or Bharat Bandh, to protest what it calls the government's 'anti-worker, anti-farmer, and anti-national pro-corporate policies.'In a statement, the forum urged workers to make the strike 'a grand success' and said preparations are already underway across sectors in both the formal and informal economies.'All arrangements have been made in earnest. More than 25 crore workers are expected to take part in the strike. Farmers and rural labourers will also join protests across the country,' said Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress.According to Harbhajan Singh Sidhu of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha, the bandh is likely to impact banking, postal services, coal mining, factories, and state-run transport systems.The unions had earlier submitted a 17-point charter of demands to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, outlining issues ranging from wage security to social sector spending. However, they allege the government has failed to respond meaningfully.The forum criticised the government for not convening the Indian Labour Conference for a decade and for pushing through four new labour codes that, according to union leaders, weaken collective bargaining rights, cripple union activities, and tilt power further towards employers under the banner of 'ease of doing business.''These policies are fuelling unemployment, driving up prices of essential goods, depressing wages, and cutting spending on health, education, and civic amenities,' the statement said. 'The result is widening inequality and increasing hardship for the poor, lower-income groups, and the middle class.'The unions further accused the government of abandoning the country's welfare-state commitments in favour of policies that benefit large Indian and foreign corporations.Trade union leaders said they have been consistently resisting the privatisation of public sector enterprises and services, as well as what they describe as the rampant outsourcing, contractualisation, and casualisation of work.The forum also reiterated its opposition to the four labour codes passed by Parliament, describing them as 'measures designed to suppress and cripple the trade union movement, increase working hours, strip away workers' right to collective bargaining and to strike, and decriminalise violations of labour laws by employers.' Show more
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