Enough is Enough
CRORES of working people hit the streets in the historic strike on July 9. Originally scheduled earlier, the strike had to be postponed by nearly a month and a half following the dastardly attack on innocent civilian tourists in Pahalgam. Yet, the spirit of resistance against the anti-worker policies forced upon the people remained undeterred.
This fightback gained momentum when the government pushed through and enacted three key labour codes — the Industrial Relations (IR) Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, and the Social Security Code. Together with the Code on Wages, 2019, these four codes consolidate and replace 44 existing labour laws. These codes deal with important aspects of workers’ lives — wages, industrial relations, social security, and workplace safety and welfare. In essence, the hard-won rights of different sections of the working class are being systematically dismantled to further the agenda of the corporate-communal nexus led by the Narendra Modi-headed BJP government.
The build-up to the July 9th strike was aimed squarely at resisting this onslaught. What is important is that the strike was not only backed by all major trade unions and industrial federations across the country but also by all categories of the workforce. From unorganised sector workers in construction, to employees in the financial sector, to gig workers and migrant workers – all raised their voices in unison.
Equally significant was the active support and participation of the broadest platform of the peasantry – the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). Alongside backing the demand to repeal the four labour codes, peasant organisations highlighted the deepening agrarian crisis, raising the long-pending demand for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP). Agricultural workers’ unions raised pressing concerns over rural employment and the persistent erosion of the MGNREGA scheme.
This coming together of workers, peasants, and agricultural labourers marks a historic moment – perhaps the first time such a comprehensive unity has emerged. It reflects the widespread and deepening crisis of livelihoods that the vast majority of working people in the country are now facing.
In a sense, this is no longer merely a crisis of livelihood, it has become a battle for survival. The intensity of the July 9th action stemmed from the all-encompassing threat posed by the proposed labour codes, which signal a complete free hand for corporates by dismantling virtually all regulatory frameworks and stripping away the last vestiges of legal protections for workers. It is deeply ironic that the government has sought to push these codes as a pro-labour initiative.
Despite their bravado, it has become increasingly clear that the government is aware of the growing public exposure of this hypocrisy. The conditions of work have deteriorated so visibly and severely that they can no longer be denied. Two key factors have driven the worsening situation of the working masses: rising unemployment and a sharp spike in inequality.
Even the Economic Survey 2024, tabled in Parliament on January 31, 2025, had to acknowledge this reality. It noted that while the labour share in Gross Value Added (GVA) saw only a negligible increase, corporate profits surged disproportionately – especially among large firms – underscoring the widening chasm of income inequality.
While the government launched a sweeping attack on the rights of workers and other toiling sections, it simultaneously offered an unprecedented bonanza to corporates amounting to Rs 1.45 lakh crores, a figure larger than the combined budget allocations for education and health. The appalling social conditions are reflected starkly in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), and some economists have gone so far as to say that inequality in India today exceeds the levels seen under British rule. In sharp contrast, the corporate elite has seen a dramatic surge in wealth. The number of billionaires with earnings exceeding Rs 100 crores stood at 100 in 2014; that figure has now doubled to 200. The combined wealth of the top 100 billionaires has crossed 1 trillion USD (over Rs 1 lakh crores). This obscene accumulation of wealth has gone hand in hand with a steep decline in the real incomes of the vast majority of working people. It is this deep injustice, felt in every breath and drop of sweat, that found expression in the mass action on July 9th.
The labour codes essentially serve to institutionalise the much-touted notion of ‘labour market flexibility’ -- a concept that first appeared in the BJP’s 2009 election manifesto. In reality, this is nothing more than a euphemism for the ruthless ‘hire and fire’ regime, enabled by dismantling even the minimal protections that currently exist for workers. With the rampant contractualisation of labour, only around 4 per cent of the workforce remain outside the outsourcing net and the exploitative ‘sweatshop’ environment. The emphasis of the labour codes is to further enfeeble the trade union rights of even this small proportion of work force. This is in keeping with the finance-driven neoliberal economic paradigm, whose defining characteristic has been the dismantling of trade unions and their collective bargaining rights.
The government’s claims have become so farcical that it now cites dubious research to declare India as the world’s fourth most equal economy, a patently absurd claim. In doing so, it substitutes expenditure data for income data, which is as bizarre as it is dishonest.
The grit and determination demonstrated by the working people on July 9th stands as a clear warning to a government desperate to appease its corporate sponsors and foreign allies. Whether or not the government accepts the demands of the working people is up to them. But one thing is certain: there will be no retreat. The fightback will only grow – with stronger waves and even broader unity poised to take it forward.
(July 9, 2025)
