The ITUC has delivered a letter of protest to India’s Brussels Embassy over plans by the Modi government to eviscerate
the country’s labour legislation, leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation and depriving them of rights. Some 200
million workers took part in a nationwide protest strike on 8 and 9 January against the government’s plans, which would
remove labour-law protections from tens of millions of workers, impose heavy restrictions on workers’ organising and
collective bargaining rights, expose workers to excessive working hours and to dismissal without proper recourse, and
weaken laws aimed at stopping child labour.
“Prime Minister Modi is turning India’s labour laws into a blank cheque for multinationals and India’s super-rich. No
self-respecting government should allow the American Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobby groups to write the
laws that should protect workers. If Mr Modi won’t govern in the interests of the Indian people, then he should go. With
1% of the population controlling nearly 60% of the wealth, India is already one of the most unequal countries in the
world, and these laws would make the gap even wider,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
Following the January strike, India’s ten major trade union centres, including the ITUC-affiliated INTUC, HMS and SEWA,
have pledged to work to defeat the Modi government in forthcoming national elections unless the government abandons its
plans and enters constructive talks about reforms that would actually improve the situation of Indian workers and
genuinely tackle unemployment and guarantee a national minimum wage of US$250 per month.
www.ituc-csi.org/international-support-for-indian
The ITUC represents 207 million members of 331 affiliates in 163 countries and territories.
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