P Krishnaprasad
WORKERS and farmers across India joined hands on November 26, 2024, to express their anger against the assault on their livelihoods and to resolutely oppose the corporate-driven policies of the NDA-3 government. The date marked the fourth anniversary of the historic General Strike by workers and the Delhi March by farmers in 2020. These collective actions had forced the NDA-2 government to repeal the three farm laws aimed at corporatising agriculture. Notably, November 26 also commemorates the day the Constitution of India was adopted in 1949. The farmers’ struggle in 2020 lasted for 13 months and saw 736 martyrs’ lives sacrificed in the process.
According to preliminary estimates, nearly ten lakh people participated in the joint worker-farmer protests, in approximately 500 districts across 26 states and union territories. Demonstrations were held in district headquarters as well as urban and rural areas, including industrial zones in many states. In solidarity, lunch-hour demonstrations were organised in several offices, with participation from service sector workers, including those in insurance, banking, and telecommunications. Leaders of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) joined the protests in various locations. Protesters submitted a joint memorandum to the President of India through district collectors.
In Bhagalpur, Bihar, the police used force, including a lathi charge, against workers and farmers demonstrating outside the District Magistrate’s office. Six people sustained injuries, and three leaders were arrested. This incident laid bare the anti-worker and anti-farmer stance of the JDU-BJP-led state government in Bihar.
The joint protest was called by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions, independent sectoral federations/associations, and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). An appeal was extended to other social groups, and in many locations, students, youth, women, teachers, professionals, and individuals from the fields of art, culture, and literature participated with their own demands while expressing solidarity with the demands of trade unions and farmer organisations. And, representatives of small and middle traders, as well as petty producers, joined the protests, supporting the collective action while raising their own genuine demands.
Protest actions were organised by various constituent organisations in areas where they had influence, ensuring a widespread and visible presence across the country. Scheme workers participated in large numbers, and the significant involvement of women was notable nationwide. This protest, part of a series of coordinated actions by the SKM and CTUs in recent years, reflected a marked improvement in coordination among member organisations across the country.
This mass mobilisation served as a powerful warning to the ruling classes and their primary political party, the BJP, that the people will not tolerate corporate domination in agriculture, industry, and services. It also signalled that the NDA-3 government cannot ignore the basic and genuine rights of the two principal producing classes – workers and farmers – who constitute the overwhelming majority of the population.
The growing issue-based unity, forged through consistent class actions under the leadership of the largest platforms of workers and farmers, is decisively influencing the political processes in the country. Burning issues affecting the working people such as price rise, unemployment, lack of social security, distress migration, and the acute agrarian crisis can no longer be ignored by mainstream political parties. The consistent focus on livelihood-related issues is drawing more people into mass movements.
These issues are a direct result of over three decades of neoliberal policies, which have been intensified under the NDA government's rule over the last decade. The assault on workers' and farmers' livelihoods – manifested in the denial of remunerative prices amidst escalating production costs and the refusal to ensure minimum wages despite inflation and unrestrained price rises – has become central to mass struggles. The acute agrarian crisis and widespread rural-to-urban distress migration have further worsened the conditions of workers in the manufacturing and service sectors. This systemic corporate assault necessitates a robust worker-peasant unity to push back and work for alternative development policies that prioritise the working people.
The NDA government has refused to implement the written agreement made with the SKM on December 9, 2021, and is moving forward with plans to implement the four labour codes, despite unanimous opposition from trade unions.
In addition to policy-level demands, numerous local issues were raised by constituents at the district level, rallying broader sections of the masses into the joint protest. Alongside demands for MSP, minimum wages, employment guarantees, social security, universal healthcare, and education, the 12-point charter of demands also included calls for strict laws to prevent communal division, end violence and discrimination against minorities, dalits, and adivasis, and curb sexual violence against women and children.
While the agricultural workers' movement has been part of previous calls issued by the SKM and other joint platforms, special efforts were made this time to engage agricultural unions not traditionally affiliated with trade unions or kisan organisations. These efforts resulted in the significant participation of rural workers in the protests. Organisations such as CITU, AIKS, and AIAWU jointly conducted campaigns to strengthen grassroots unity. This represents a qualitative improvement in building worker-peasant solidarity and fostering united struggles against the rural elite nexus in the countryside, paving the way for long-term worker-peasant unity.
According to reports, efforts were made to enhance coordination among the constituent organisations of the CTUs and SKM at both state and district levels in most states. A widespread campaign was organised from November 7 to 25, 2024, covering taluks and villages. Activities included vehicle jathas, cycle jathas, padayatras, and door-to-door visits for leaflet distribution. These initiatives played a crucial role in building grassroots unity among activists and reaching the maximum number of working people. Campaign materials, including leaflets and posters highlighting major demands, were designed and widely circulated, which were also translated into various languages.
The primary task ahead is to strengthen coordination between the platforms to deepen worker-peasant unity at the village, factory, and workplace levels across India. This unity is essential to building the power needed to intensify the struggle against corporate dominance, secure genuine rights, resolve the agrarian crisis, and compel the union and state governments to adopt alternative policies that prioritise the development of the working people.
The CTUs and SKM will convene soon to review the campaign's effectiveness and participation levels and plan further intensified struggles aimed at challenging the pro-corporate policy paradigm of the current government and ensuring a shift toward people-centric policies.
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