Trade Unions Announce Nationwide Protests After Centre Implements Labour Codes

Ten central trade unions on Friday sharply criticised the Union government’s decision to officially bring the four new labour codes into force, calling the move a “deceptive fraud” against India’s workforce. The unions announced nationwide protests on November 26 in response.

The four labour codes now operational are the Code on Wages (2019), the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020), the Social Security Code (2020), and the Industrial Relations Code (2020). Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the rollout as a major step that “simplifies compliance” and improves the “ease of doing business.”
The codes together replace 29 existing labour laws. Notably, the Social Security Code expands social security coverage to all workers, including gig and platform workers.

In a joint statement, the central trade unions said the government’s “arbitrary and undemocratic” enforcement of the codes marks a severe erosion of workers’ rights in the middle of rising unemployment and inflation. They argued that the new framework represents a “war on the working masses” by weakening wage protections, social security, safety standards, and industrial relations safeguards.

The unions said the government acted unilaterally despite years of organised opposition from workers and farmers. They pointed out that protests have been ongoing since the Code on Wages was passed in 2019, including a nationwide strike in January 2020 and another major strike on November 26, 2020. More recently, over 25 crore workers took part in the general strike of July 9, 2025, the unions claimed.

Union leaders accused the Centre of pushing through employer-friendly reforms after the BJP-led alliance’s victory in the Bihar elections, saying the government now felt “super empowered” to ignore objections. They added that during the pre-budget consultation with the Finance Ministry on November 20, they again demanded withdrawal of the codes, but their concerns were dismissed.

The joint platform also criticised the government for not holding the Indian Labour Conference since 2015, arguing that major changes to labour laws were introduced without genuine consultation. They warned that the new system would erode workers’ rights, harm job security, worsen working conditions, and “return the country to a master–servant era.”

The unions have called for a strong show of resistance on November 26, urging workers to hold gate meetings, street-corner gatherings, and workplace actions. They also asked workers to begin wearing black badges from Monday and demanded the withdrawal of the draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025.

The statement was signed by leaders of INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, and UTUC.

“The working people of India will put up a formidable fight until the labour codes are withdrawn,” the joint platform declared.