Bharat Bandh Wednesday: Over 25 Crore Workers to Strike, Public Services to Take a Hit

Bharat Bandh Wednesday: Over 25 crore workers from banking, insurance, postal services, coal mining, highways and construction are going to participate in the nationwide general strike or Bharat Bandh on July 9, 2025. The strike called by the 10 central trade unions’ forum aims to protest against the central government’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer and pro-corporate policies”.

Essential services like banking, postal, coal mining, factories and state transport will be severely affected. Union leaders Amarjeet Kaur (AITUC) and Harbhajan Singh Sidhu (HMS) have said the mobilisation will be massive with support from farmers and rural workers and have criticized the government’s policies like Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme and no meaningful dialogue with labour representatives.

Union leaders say the strike will affect banking, postal services, coal mining, factories and state-run transport. Farmers and rural workers will also join protests across the country.

The strike is the result of months of planning within both formal and informal sectors. Amarjeet Kaur of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) stated to the news agency PTI, "The government has ignored our 17-point demand list and hasn’t even called the annual labour conference in the last 10 years."

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The trade unions say the four new labour codes passed by the Parliament undermine workers’ rights by making it difficult to strike, increasing working hours and shielding employers from penalties when they violate labour laws. They are also protesting against privatisation of public sector units, outsourcing of jobs and use of contract workers, which they claim threaten job security and fair wages.

At the core of the unrest is a list of 17 demands submitted by the unions to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last year. The unions claim the government has ignored these demands and has not convened the annual labour conference for the last 10 years – a move they say reflects the government’s apathy towards the labour force.

In a joint statement, the forum alleged that the government’s labour reforms, including the four new labour codes, are designed to erode workers’ rights. These codes, the unions say, aim to dismantle collective bargaining, weaken union activities, increase working hours and shield employers from accountability under labour laws.

Trade unions have been fighting against "privatisation of public sector enterprises and public services, policies of outsourcing, contractorisation and casualisation of workforce", it said, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

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The forum demands that the government address unemployment, fill sanctioned posts, create more jobs, increase MGNREGA workers’ days and wages and enact similar laws for urban areas. Instead, it says the government is promoting the Employment Linked Incentive scheme to benefit employers.

The unions also criticised the government departments for recruiting retired personnel instead of providing regular appointments to youth. This policy is seen in Railways, NMDC Ltd, steel and teaching sectors where 65% of the population is below 35 and unemployment is highest among the 20-25 year age group.

The four labour codes passed by the Parliament are meant to suppress and cripple the trade union movement, increase working hours, snatch workers’ right to collective bargaining, right to strike and decriminalise violation of labour laws by employers, the statement said.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the joint front of the agricultural workers' unions have extended support to this strike and will make massive mobilisations in rural India, the union leaders said.

Trade unions had earlier observed similar nationwide strikes on November 26, 2020, on March 28-29, 2022, and on February 16 last year.

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