Bharat Bandh on July 9: Over 250 million workers to join nationwide strike

More than 250 million workers from diverse sectors—including banking, insurance, postal services, and coal mining—are expected to participate in a nationwide general strike on Wednesday. Organised by a forum of ten central trade unions, the strike or ‘Bharat Bandh’, seeks to protest what the unions describe as “anti-worker, anti-farmer, and anti-national pro-corporate policies” of the Centre.

Amarjeet Kaur of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) told news agency PTI that farmers and rural workers will also join the protest across the country. The large-scale strike is likely to disrupt essential public services and major industries, including banking, coal mining, state-run transport, manufacturing units, and postal services.

Why have trade unions called a general strike?

The protest centres on a 17-point charter of demands that the unions had submitted to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last year. According to the unions, the government has disregarded these demands and has failed to convene the annual labour conference for the past 10 years, an omission they interpret as indifference towards the nation’s labour force.

The forum stated that the government “continues to take decisions in contravention to the interest of labour force", citing efforts to enforce four new labour codes as an attempt to undermine collective bargaining rights, weaken union activity, and benefit employers under the guise of improving the ‘ease of doing business’.

The unions further alleged that prevailing economic policies are exacerbating unemployment, fuelling inflation in essential goods, depressing wages, and leading to cuts in public spending on education, healthcare, and basic civic amenities.

Opposition to privatisation

The trade union forum expressed its opposition to the privatisation of public sector enterprises and services, and the increasing use of contractual and casual labour. According to the unions, the four labour codes passed by Parliament are designed to suppress the trade union movement, extend working hours, and erode workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

Demands raised by forum

The forum stated that they were asking the government to address unemployment, fill sanctioned vacancies through recruitment, create additional employment opportunities, increase both the number of workdays and the remuneration for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA workers, and introduce similar legislation for urban areas. However, it added that the government was instead focused on imposing the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme to provide incentives to employers.

Bank trade unions to participate on July 9

The Bengal Provincial Bank Employees Association, affiliated with the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), confirmed that banking sector unions — including AIBEA, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBOA), and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) — will also take part in Wednesday’s strike. According to the bank employees' union, the strike will serve as a protest against the central government’s “pro-corporate economic reforms”.