A 24-hour all-India strike, called by the Joint Trade Union Committee, will begin today at midnight. The strike is being held against the BJP-led Central government to raise various demands, including the withdrawal of the Labour Codes, reinstatement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and the withdrawal of the Draft Seed Bill, the Electricity Amendment Bill, and the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act. They are also demanding the scrapping of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025.
The Joint Trade Union Committee is a forum of 10 central trade unions: INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, and UTUC.
Will schools and colleges work on Thursday?
While there is no nationwide closure of schools and colleges, educational institutions would find it hard to operate if transport services are hit. Students and teachers may find it difficult to reach the institutions if bus and other public transport drivers pledge solidarity with the strike.
Which sectors will be affected by the all-India strike?
Special Economic Zones and shopping malls are among the sectors to be hit by the strike, Manorama Online said in a report. The trade unions are expecting workers from all sectors to join the strike. However, essential services such as milk, newspapers, ambulance services, hospitals, pharmacies, and Fire and Rescue have been exempted, the Manorama Online report said. Nevertheless, shops and markets will remain closed and motor vehicles will stay off the roads.
It is expected that the industrial, agricultural, commercial, and trade sectors will witness a standstill on 12 February.
According to the trade unions, state government employees, teachers' organisations, and employees in the banking, insurance, defence, railway, port, and aviation sectors—along with associated contract workers—will support the strike.
Bus, car, and lorry drivers have decided to join the strike along with autorickshaw drivers affiliated with the striking trade unions. Also listed among striking workers are those in the fishing sector, street vendors, press employees, scheme workers, and workers in construction and gig platforms.
The Joint Trade Union office-bearers added that employees from IT, small-scale industries, private and public sector industries, banks, insurance institutions, airport ground-handling staff, port workers, container freight stations, the plantation sector, electricity, the defence sector, new-generation banks, and non-banking institutions will also join the strike.
With the left-wing unions in the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) joining the strike, services are likely to be disrupted.
The Joint Trade Union has announced that Sabarimala pilgrims and the Maramon Convention have been exempted from the national strike. Kozhencherry and Thottapuzhassery panchayats have also been exempted.
The RSS-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) is not participating in the strike.
