On 9 January 2026, ten Central Trade Unions (CTUs) got together and decided to call for a general strike on 12 February 2026. Why? They want the Central government to withdraw the Labour Codes. If it fails to repeal the same at once the CTUs will go on an indefinite strike.
As per the trade unions, the Codes will deprive the trade unions of their strength. About five general strikes have already taken place ever since the Labour Codes were passed in the Parliament about five years ago.
The recent convention reportedly witnessed various leaders of trade unions accusing the Central government of allowing various public-sector undertakings (PSUs) to be privatised, including railways, coal mines, steel plants, airports, banks and various units in the electricity and power generation space. Such a move is only in the interest of a handful of big corporates.
The unions feels that there are bigger issues that the Centre is ignoring, such as the rising prices of essential commodities, deaths due to contamination of drinking water, the unaffordability of health, education and essential services. Additionally, lakhs of vacancies in the government are waiting to be filled. Instead, the Centre is choosing to focus on the Labour Codes which will eventually weaken the unions and deprive workers of their rights.
In the first week of January, the Centre had notified the draft rules for the Labour Codes, namely The Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
