Indian workers go on a daylong nationwide strike against Modi's economic
reforms
[July 09, 2025] By
RAJESH ROY
NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of workers across India went on a
nationwide strike on Wednesday in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's efforts to privatize state-run companies and other economic
reforms, partially disrupting public services and manufacturing.
A coalition of 10 major trade unions that represent laborers and several
other groups that speak for farmers and rural workers called for the
one-day industrial action, dubbing it Bharat Bandh,” Hindi for “Shut
Down India.”
The strikes pose fresh challenges for Modi’s efforts to attract foreign
companies by easing labor laws to streamline business operations and
boost productivity.
Unions that helped organize the strikes say that coal mining operations
were halted in several states while some trains came to a grinding halt
as protestors blocked the network, and that banks, insurance companies
and supermarkets were disrupted.
An Associated Press photographer in the eastern city of Kolkata saw
protestors walking in a rally at a local railway station, some shouting
slogans against the government and burning an effigy of Modi. Another,
in the financial capital Mumbai, witnessed bank employees shouting
slogans against the privatization of state-run banks.
The Press Trust of India reported traffic in eastern India’s Odisha
state was halted in some areas, while in the southern state of Kerala,
shops, offices and schools remained closed, with roads looking deserted.
The government hasn’t formally commented on the workers’ strike. It
usually dismisses assertions made by these unions.
The workers' demands include higher wages, halting privatization of
state-run companies, withdrawal of new labor laws and filling vacancies
in the government sector. The farmers' groups also want the government
to increase the minimum purchase price for crops such as wheat and rice.
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Supporters of Centre of India Trade Unions, CITU, walk in a rally on
a railway station platform during a nation-wide strike to protest
what they call the anti-labor and anti-poor policies of the federal
government, in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas
Das)
 Modi's government has opened some
sectors of the Indian economy to foreign direct investments and
offered billions of dollars in financial incentives to attract local
manufacturing. It has also aimed to bridge the budget deficit with a
drive to privatize loss-making state-run companies and unveiled new
labor laws that promise workers higher statutory minimum wages,
social security and healthcare.
However, the trade unions aren’t convinced and want
the new laws to be scrapped.
“The government intends to suppress workers in the name of ease of
doing business through labor reforms,” said Amarjeet Kaur, general
secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, a prominent union
taking part in the strike.
Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions,
or CITU, which is aligned with a communist party and a key trade
union that is part of the group that called for the strike, said he
got reports of protesting workers blocking several national highways
and rail routes.
"Coal mining operations in most states have come to a halt. Services
in banking, insurance, manufacturing and petroleum refineries are
impacted too,” said Sen.
A. Soundararajan, a prominent trade union leader in the southern
state of Tamil Nadu said the police detained around 30,000
protesting workers on Wednesday. Manufacturing activities at several
companies have also been hit, he said.
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