On 9 July 2025, a joint platform of ten central trade unions held a 24-hour nationwide general strike, or Bharat Bandh, against the Centre's four labour codes, privatisation and contract labour, with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha's support. Kerala shut down almost completely, West Bengal saw clashes, lathicharges and detentions, and markets in Delhi stayed open. The unions claimed about 25 crore participants; no independent count was found. The RSS-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh stayed out, and the government brought all four labour codes into force on 21 November 2025.
Key takeaways
- Ten central trade unions called the 9 July 2025 general strike against the four labour codes and privatisation, with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and bank unions joining.
- The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the country's largest trade union, did not join and called the strike politically motivated.
- Kerala saw a near-total shutdown; West Bengal's police removed strike supporters by force, with a lathicharge in Howrah and detentions in Kolkata.
- The Centre made all four labour codes effective on 21 November 2025, and the unions held a further general strike on 12 February 2026.
Background: the four labour codes
Parliament passed the Code on Wages in 2019 and the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code in 2020. Together they consolidate 29 central labour laws. Business Today reported in July 2025 that the Centre had not yet notified them "due to a lack of consensus" Business Today.
The strike was first set for 20 May 2025. On 15 May the unions put it off to 9 July, citing developments after the Pahalgam terror attack and the armed forces' response. In the same statement they said employers were implementing the codes "through the backdoor" and the government had not held the Indian Labour Conference Deccan Herald.
Who called it, and who stayed out
The strike was called by a joint platform of ten central trade unions: INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC, with independent sectoral federations. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha and agricultural workers' unions backed it Business Today PTI via The Week. Bank unions AIBEA, AIBOA and BEFI joined Business Today.
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), aligned with the RSS, said it would not take part. It said the government had heeded its suggestions on the codes and that the protest was "politically motivated" PTI via The Week. The National Front of Indian Trade Unions and about 18 state-level unions also stayed out Business Today.
Opposition parties backed the strike. In Odisha, the Congress and the BJD supported it PTI via The Week. In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK's labour wing called it "politically motivated and ill-timed" DT Next.
The demands
The unions said they had given a 17-point charter to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya the previous year and got no concrete response The News Minute. According to PTI, the charter included PTI via The Week:
- Withdrawal of the four labour codes and of fixed-term employment, and scrapping of the Agnipath scheme.
- An 8-hour workday and a minimum wage of Rs 26,000 a month.
- Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and a Rs 9,000 minimum pension for EPFO subscribers.
- Worker status for Anganwadi, ASHA and midday meal workers.
- A halt to privatisation of the railways, coal, defence, power, banks and insurance, among other sectors.
- Convening the Indian Labour Conference, which last met in 2015.
The unions said the codes would allow longer working hours and make strikes and collective bargaining harder The News Minute.
The government's position
Government's position Senior government sources told Business Today that states were already implementing parts of the codes. "As many as 31 state governments have implemented various provisions of the Labour Codes," they said, adding that unions "should be taking up these issues with state governments". The report said the government expected the strike to have only a "marginal impact" because BMS and other unions were staying out Business Today. No formal statement by the Labour Ministry on the strike was found.
State governments of different parties also acted against the strike. Tamil Nadu's Chief Secretary warned employees of action under the conduct rules, and the Transport Minister said buses would run as usual DT Next. Kerala's Left government declared a dies non, meaning a day's loss of pay for unauthorised absence, even though its ministers backed the strike Outlook.
How it played out, state by state
Near-total shutdown
Shops, offices and schools closed and public vehicles stayed off the roads. Protesters blocked KSRTC buses in Kochi and Kollam; Kochi crew said they belonged to BMS and alleged that police did not help them complete the trip PTI via The Week. In Kannur district, strike supporters deflated the tyres of seven cars used by teachers. In Kasaragod district, one teacher was locked in a staff room until police freed her Outlook.
Clashes and detentions
Police removed strike supporters by force. SFI leader Srijan Bhattacharya was detained in south Kolkata, SFI supporters tried to free detainees from prison vans at College Street, and police and RAF lathicharged bandh supporters at Domjur in Howrah PTI via The Week. Outlook reported 19 people detained at Ganguly Bagan Outlook. Left and TMC workers clashed in Birbhum's Kirnahar, where three CPI(M) supporters were reportedly hospitalised. Cameras caught a police station officer in Dakshin Dinajpur slapping a CPI(M) leader PTI via The Week. Left union members were taken into custody in Midnapore, and a clash between TMC members and union leaders was reported in Naxalbari Business Standard.
Strike merged with the SIR protest
The INDIA bloc called a Bihar bandh the same day against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls. Rahul Gandhi led a march in Patna from the Income Tax office at Golambar towards the Election Commission's office Tribune. Road and rail blockades were reported in Gaya, Darbhanga, Jehanabad and other districts Outlook.
Roads and rail blocked
Protesters blocked national highways in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and five other districts and staged a protest on the tracks at Bhubaneswar station. A separate drivers' strike added to the disruption. Offices and schools in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack worked normally, police said PTI via The Week.
Buses kept running
Transport officials said buses ran normally in the morning Asianet Newsable. Bank and insurance employees protested outside the LIC building on Anna Salai in Chennai The News Minute.
Coal, Assam, Puducherry, Kashmir
An AITUC leader in Jharkhand said coal production and dispatch had "totally halted". Commercial vehicles stayed off the roads in Assam, and in Puducherry private buses stopped and many shops closed Business Standard. In Srinagar, permission for a CPI(M) protest was revoked, according to MLA M Y Tarigami Outlook.
How big was it?
Claim · Trade unions The unions said about 25 crore workers took part. Their joint statement said there was a "'bandh' like situation" in states including Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka, and partial bandhs elsewhere Deccan Herald. The All India Power Engineers Federation said around 27 lakh power sector workers joined protests.
Press reports describe a more uneven picture. Deccan Herald said markets across Delhi stayed open and normal life was unaffected in Karnataka, which the unions' statement had listed as a bandh-like state Deccan Herald. Outlook reported little impact in Mumbai and Delhi Outlook. IANS said the strike did not significantly affect private sector work, schools or long-distance trains IANS via Greater Kashmir. No evidence No government or independent count of participants was found.
Both accounts
Unions' and Left account
The unions said the codes would lengthen working hours, weaken unions and take away the right to strike, and that the government had refused to consult them The News Minute. In Kolkata, Srijan Bhattacharya alleged police used force on a peaceful protest: "They won't even allow us to hold a peaceful rally in support of the strike" PTI via The Week.
Government and opponents' account
Government sources said states were already implementing the codes and expected a marginal impact Business Today. BMS called the strike politically motivated. In Bengal, TMC leader Debangshu Bhattacharya said: "This is not a spontaneous strike of people, but one that is forced upon them" PTI via The Week.
What followed
Documented The government made all four labour codes effective from 21 November 2025, saying they rationalise 29 laws and extend minimum wages and social security PIB. Mandaviya called the codes "both pro-worker and pro-growth" IANS via Morung Express.
The ten unions called the move a "war on the working masses" and called protests for 26 November with the SKM. BMS welcomed the codes Deccan Herald.
The unions held another general strike on 12 February 2026, again with the SKM, this time also opposing the India-US interim trade deal Business Today. Kerala again shut down and again declared a dies non, and protesters were detained in Bengaluru South First. That strike is covered on our farmers' Bharat Bandh 2026 page. Disputes over the codes and wages also lay behind the Noida wage protest of 2026. On 10 August 2026, unions and farmers' groups held blockades at more than 80 places in Tamil Nadu demanding repeal of the codes, and more than 500 people were arrested in Madhavaram DT Next.
Outcome
- Deaths: None reported in the sources reviewed.
- Injuries: Three CPI(M) supporters reportedly hospitalised after a clash in Birbhum.
- Detentions: 19 in Kolkata's Ganguly Bagan, per Outlook; others in Midnapore and Haldia. No statewide total was published.
- Force: Lathicharge by police and RAF at Domjur, Howrah.
- Disruption: Kerala shut down; banking, coal, transport and some rail lines hit in several states.
- Policy: The labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025, and the demands were not met.
Questions people ask
Why was there a Bharat Bandh on 9 July 2025?
Ten central trade unions called a general strike against the four labour codes, privatisation and contract labour, pressing a 17-point charter that included a Rs 26,000 minimum wage. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha supported it.
Which unions called the 9 July strike?
INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC, with bank unions and independent federations. The RSS-linked BMS and the NFITU stayed out.
Did 25 crore people really join the strike?
That is the unions' own figure. No government or independent count was found, and reports said Delhi and Mumbai were barely affected while Kerala shut down.
Was there violence during the bandh?
Yes, mainly in West Bengal, where police lathicharged strike supporters in Howrah, detained protesters in Kolkata and elsewhere, and Left and TMC workers clashed. No deaths were reported.
Were the labour codes withdrawn?
No. The government made all four codes effective from 21 November 2025. The unions called further protests, including another general strike on 12 February 2026.
Sources
- Deccan Herald: Trade unions defer nationwide general strike to July 9, 15 May 2025
- The News Minute: Bharat Bandh on July 9: Why 10 trade unions have called for a strike, 8 July 2025
- Business Today: Trade unions get ready for nationwide strike on July 9, BMS, NFITU not to join, 8 July 2025
- PTI via The Week: BMS not to participate in General Strike on Wednesday, 8 July 2025
- DT Next: Don't join strike or face action: TN govt to trade unions, 9 July 2025
- PTI via The Week: Trade unions' strike: Total shutdown in Kerala, 9 July 2025
- PTI via The Week: Bengal registers sporadic violence across pockets as strike enforcers scuffle with police, TMC, 9 July 2025
- PTI via The Week: Strike by trade unions, drivers disrupts vehicular movement in Odisha, 9 July 2025
- Business Standard: Bharat Bandh: Services hit in Kerala, protesters lathicharged in Bengal, 9 July 2025
- Tribune: Rahul Gandhi leads march in Bihar against ECI's electoral roll revision, 9 July 2025
- Asianet Newsable: Bharat Bandh: No major disruption, transport services normal in Tamil Nadu, 9 July 2025
- Outlook: A Tale Of Two Bharat Bandhs, 9 July 2025
- Deccan Herald: Bharat Bandh: 25 crore workers join strike that sees varying impact across states, 9 July 2025
- IANS via Greater Kashmir: Nationwide strike disrupts services as trade unions protest labour laws, 9 July 2025
- The News Minute: Bharat bandh: Bank, LIC employees protest Union govt's pro-corporate labour reforms, 10 July 2025
- PIB: Government makes the four Labour Codes effective to simplify and streamline labour laws, 21 Nov 2025
- Deccan Herald: 'War on working people': Trade unions hit out at labour codes, 21 Nov 2025
- IANS via Morung Express: New labour codes mark a turning point for worker welfare: Mansukh Mandaviya, 24 Nov 2025
- Business Today: Bharat Bandh on Feb 12: Why trade unions called the nationwide strike, 11 Feb 2026
- South First: Bharat Bandh: Unions demand repeal of labour codes, 12 Feb 2026
- DT Next: Trade unions, farmers hit streets across Tamil Nadu, 11 Aug 2026