Bharat Bandh: Trade Union Strike Hits Kolkata & Other Cities

Bharat Bandh: Several trade unions have given a countrywide strike today (July 9) against the four labour codes, contractualisation, and privatisation of public sector units among others.

On Wednesday (July 9, 2025) several areas in the country were facing disruption in public transport as the Bharat Bandh rally organized by ten central trade unions (CTUs) raged on. As the leaders had stated, the workers favored 17-point charter of demands of the strike, which had been raised against the Union government policies.

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The Bharat Bandh that is taking place today is paralyzing the needs of people such as transportation and other public services that make lives run in an order.

The strike took the size of kerala bandh when almost locking down of the services the lock down approached the private and public stage and the long distance traffic, crippling hundreds of its customers. There were reports of violence drawn to several pockets of West Bengal since the Left-Wing activists fought with police and TMC supporters in several areas of West Bengal, as further security forces were used to restore normalcy.

On Tuesday (July 8, 2025), the Union Labour Ministry asserted that nearly 213 unions, which include the RSS backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) have written to it that they are not going to take part in the general strike across the country.

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Important facts that you need to know about Bharat Bandh on July 9:

• Amarjeet Kaur of All India Trade Union Congress said to PTI that more than 25 crore workers such as farmers and rural workers will participate in strike and protests across the nation.
• The Bharat Bandh has been experienced in some parts of West Bengal just like in Kolkata where the workers of the left party trade union lit fire in protest. The left workers went into Jadavpur railway station and obstructed railways to express their protest. At the Jadavpur 8B bus stand heavy police was used when the workers still protested.
• At Bhubaneswar, the national highway was blocked by the members of the Khordha District unit of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in support of the Bharat Bandh.
• In Kerala, the shops and shopping malls in Kottayam are closed in the solidarity with the Bharat Bandh organised by 10 central trade unions.
• The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) students wing obstructed the train lines of Jehanabad railway station in the state of Bihar in support of the Bharat bandh which was given by a joint platform of 10 central trade unions and their affiliates.
• Nevertheless, buses did not stop operating in Chennai, Tamil Nadu during the Bharat Bandh demonstrations.
• Bharat Bandh today is likely to affect all forms of banking, postal, coal mining, factories and state transport services in large parts of India.
• The Central Trade Unions and their affiliates have invited a general strike or Bharat Bandh to protest against the pro-corporate anti-worker and anti-farmer policies of the government.
• The forum has in a statement appealed to the making of the nationwide general strike a grand success.
• A group of bank workers yesterday preannounced that the banking profession will also participate in the Bharat Bandh today as said by the Bengal Provincial Bank Employees Association. This will most probably affect banking services in West Bengal.
• K B Ganesh Kumar, Transport Minister of Kerala said that buses operated by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would ply as usual on Wednesday, even though there was a Bharat Bandh called today.
• Students should be majorly able to attend the schools and colleges as a part of the nationwide protest but locally there may be hot points to experience the heat of Bharat Bandh. There are reports of some West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Pudducherry schools being shut down.
• NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has asked the MGNREGA workers everywhere in the country to observe the general strike. Their demands are the payment of salary at the rate of Rs. 800 a day, restoration of MGNREGA in West Bengal, abolishment of NMMS and ABPS etc.
• The economic policies of the government have also been accused as the causes of increasing unemployment, prices of basic commodities, depression of wages, reduction in expenditure in the social fields of education, health, basic civic amenities and all these only increase inequalities and hardships on poor, the people of lower income group as well as the middle class.

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