Over 25 crore workers across sectors like banking, insurance, postal services, coal mining, highway construction, and informal industries are set to join a nationwide general strike, termed 'Bharat Bandh,' on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, potentially disrupting public services, according to a joint statement by 10 central trade unions. The strike, supported by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and agricultural workers’ unions, protests the government’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer, and pro-corporate” policies, including the controversial four labour codes.

Amarjeet Kaur of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) stated that the strike aims to make a “grand success,” with farmers and rural workers joining mass mobilizations nationwide. Harbhajan Singh Sidhu of Hind Mazdoor Sabha highlighted impacts on banking, postal, coal mining, factories, and state transport services. The unions demand scrapping the labour codes, which they claim weaken collective bargaining, extend working hours, and decriminalize employer violations, alongside addressing unemployment, increasing MGNREGA days and wages, and creating urban job schemes.

The forum accuses the government of neglecting labour interests, ignoring the annual labour conference for a decade, and prioritizing corporate-friendly policies like privatization and casualization, which they say exacerbate unemployment, wage depression, and inequality. They criticize the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme for favoring employers over regular youth recruitment, noting rehiring of retirees in sectors like Railways and NMDC Ltd.

Also Read: FIR Filed Against Comedian Ratan Ranjan for Morphed Rahul Gandhi Image in Hyderabad

Previous strikes, including those on November 26, 2020, March 28-29, 2022, and February 16, 2024, saw similar participation, with the 2020 strike claiming 25 crore workers, potentially the largest in history. The unions, including INTUC, AITUC, CITU, and others, but excluding RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, have rallied against privatization and policies favoring corporates over public welfare.

Also Read: Manmohan Samal to Continue as Odisha BJP Chief After Sole Nomination