Organising and national labour campaigns
Worker groups and networks report a wave of strikes and a national Labour Codes campaign aimed at improving conditions for contingent and low‑paid workers (x.com). Organisers named include RWPI and Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, and the activity spans Delhi and other industrial regions in recent days (x.com).
Workers in Delhi’s industrial belt and other factory regions have launched strikes and street campaigns against India’s labour codes as organisers push a national protest drive. (etvbharat.com) In Gurugram’s IMT Manesar, contractual workers from more than half a dozen companies went on strike on April 8 and 9, demanding higher pay and better conditions; local authorities responded with prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. (newindianexpress.com, hindustantimes.com) The latest flashpoint comes after the Union government moved to operationalise the four labour codes from April 1, 2026, following draft central rules and a public consultation process. The Ministry of Labour and Employment says the codes cover wages, industrial relations, social security, and workplace safety. (labour.gov.in, thehindu.com) Those four laws replace a patchwork of older statutes with one code each on wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. The ministry’s own explainer says the codification grew out of recommendations to merge dozens of central labour laws into four or five codes. (labour.gov.in, labour.gov.in) Trade unions have opposed the rollout for months. Central trade unions called a nationwide general strike on February 12, 2026, and then asked workers to observe April 1 as “Black Day” against the codes. (newsclick.in, newindianexpress.com) Smaller worker groups have tied the current factory unrest to that wider campaign. Bigul Mazdoor Dasta said it ran an anti-labour-codes drive at a state transport workshop in Vijayawada on March 17, while a recent radio interview identified the group as part of organising in New Delhi against the November 2025 rollout. (mazdoorbigul.net, archive.3cr.org.au) The government presents the codes differently. Its March 2026 labour-code frequently asked questions say the revised definition of “wages” took effect on November 21, 2025, and ministry material says the new framework is meant to widen coverage, simplify compliance, and extend protections to more workers, including in the unorganised sector. (labour.gov.in, labour.gov.in) Unions and labour organisers say the same changes will weaken bargaining power, make contract work easier to expand, and reduce hard-won protections. NewsClick quoted All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur saying the laws serve corporate interests, while Workers Unity reported that nearly all major unions except the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh have opposed implementation. (newsclick.in, workersunity.com) The immediate test is whether the factory strikes in places like Manesar stay local or fold into a broader national labour-code campaign. On April 16, trade unions called for fresh mobilisation across industrial areas as the dispute moved from one industrial cluster toward a countrywide fight over how low-paid and contingent work will be regulated. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, etvbharat.com)
