BJP led state governments have already removed more than 80 percent of companies and workers out of the purview of labour laws by increasing threshold limit of workers strength from 100 to 300 workers and by increasing working hours. Rules and other procedures are already formulated to implement Codes in a backdoor method.
Instead of officially enforcing Labour Codes passed by the Parliament around 5 years back, Modi led BJP government has chosen to implement it in phases based on threshold limit and based on sectors through executive orders bypassing the Parliament.
Recently, the labour ministry of the Government of India has instructed all state governments to increase working hours. Based on those instructions, in the guise of flexibility, the Congress led Karnataka government has proposed amendments vide the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2025 which will significantly impact the rights of workers. The amendment permits regular working hours to be increased from 9 hours to 10 hours, and total daily hours including overtime to be increased from 10 hours to 12 hours. The total overtime hours over a period of 3 continuous months will be increased from 50 hours to 144 hours. The Congress led Karnataka state government has not undone many anti-worker amendments and measures of its predecessor, the BJP.
When such a pro-corporate amendment was introduced by the DMK, the opposition ruled state government of Tamil Nadu, workers and unions organized major struggles and the state government was forced withdraw the amendment to increase working hours. But the sword is still hanging on the heads of workers. Such stance of the opposition led state governments amply display their pro-corporate character despite opposing the communal character of the union government. This has once again proved that there is an undeclared consensus to serve the corporate class without any ambiguity.
In order to dilute the workers resistance and to have a cushioning effect, the Modi led BJP government is also planning to implement the Labour Codes in phases. The idea is to enforce immediate compliance (by 2026) of new Labour Codes by large scale industries of a strength of 500 workers and more. The phase two is expected to cover industries with a worker’s strength of 100 to 500 workers in the year 2027. The factories with a total of less than 100 workers are given a time span of two years, i.e., the year 2028 for the implementation of new Labour codes. By introducing such a phased implementation with a three year plan from now, the government expects the resistance movement of trade unions to die down due to lack of any pan Indian support from workers cutting across trades and categories. This is the divide and rule policy of Modi to suppress workers movements.
Additionally, they are also looking at implementing it through executive orders and circulars prescribing increased threshold limit of workers strength, increased working hours, restructuring wages structures, ease of compliance for the managements, relieving the employers of the fundamental responsibility providing social security to its own work force, dismantling welfare boards, replacing ESI/PF, etc., with new schemes only with some resemblance but without any any real benefits.
The government has already paralysed the welfare benefits of Beedi workers under Beedi workers welfare act. The welfare functions are already halted for more than four years. Lakhs of crores of rupees lying with construction workers welfare board is being diverted to other sectors which was strictly prohibited by the law and also by the Supreme Court. The cess from employers is collected only for select industries like the construction sector which is also being relaxed by reducing the percentage of cess. On the other hand, all welfare boards’ beneficiary lists are being integrated with e-shram portal which does not offer any benefit for workers as of now.
The government is refusing to convene the Indian Labour conference for more than 10 years now, which is a tripartite body comprising representatives of the government, employers and employees convened once in a year or two. All major decisions concerning workers and industries had always been arrived at by taking all stakeholders, including workers, into confidence in the last several decades in the past. But Modi government is refusing to do so. The government is refusing to listen to the genuine concerns of workers including wage loss, job loss and the system of hire and fire in the name of flexibility and ease of doing business. On the other hand, Modi is eager to make life easier for a big loot by the industrialists.
It is in this backdrop, the working class represented by all central trade unions in the country barring BMS has decided to strike work on 9 July 2025. The industrial wheels will come to a grinding halt on 9 July.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has also decided to join the strike with their own demand against corporatization and commercialization of agriculture. They have decided to enforce the strike on 9 July by organizing protests in various forms including picketing of government offices in rural areas.
The CTUs and SKM have already held impressive campaigns, including organizing joint conventions at various levels to expose the pro-corporate Modi led BJP government, its anti-worker Labour Codes, privatization, three new criminal laws and its refusal to restore OPS (Old Pension Scheme).
