Indian trade unions on Wednesday mounted coordinated protests across the country, marking the first major flashpoint since the Centre enforced four contentious labour codes last week.
Positioning the agitation as the opening phase of a prolonged national campaign, unions warned that the new framework—billed by the government as the most sweeping overhaul of labour laws in decades—poses a direct threat to job security and collective bargaining.
Demonstrations were organised in Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and in the national capital, with union leaders reporting strong participation from public-sector units, coal fields, road transport workers and pockets of the auto and textile manufacturing belts. While banking services and markets functioned normally and there was no nationwide shutdown, unions described the mobilisation as a deliberate “show of strength” ahead of escalated action in the coming months.
The codes—finalised five years after receiving parliamentary approval—have now formally come into force, though their full impact depends on the pace at which individual states notify their respective rules. Labour law experts note that several states are yet to complete this process, raising the likelihood of uneven implementation in the near term.
Ten central trade unions, many aligned with opposition parties, have condemned the new system as “anti-worker” and “pro-employer”. They argue that the codes were pushed through without meaningful consultation and that they dilute hard-won safeguards relating to job security, dispute resolution and workplace protections.
A key concern is the expanded threshold for layoffs: companies with up to 300 employees can now retrench staff without prior government approval, compared with the earlier limit of 100. The legal recognition of fixed-term employment, unions say, will further tilt power towards employers by normalising short-term contracts.
The codes consolidate 29 existing central laws into four broad categories—wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety. The government insists that the reforms will streamline compliance, improve the business environment, widen social security (including for gig and platform workers), and pave the way for a national minimum wage.
Resistance has also emerged at the state level. Kerala, Karnataka and other Opposition-ruled states have said they will not move ahead with implementation without wider consultations involving unions and worker associations.
Large demonstrations took place in Bhubaneswar, where workers marched with banners and chanted slogans against the federal government. In Kozhikode, Joint Trade Union State Committee convenor Elamaram Kareem told protestors that the agitation would continue “until the codes are withdrawn”.
