Thousands of trade union workers took to the streets across India on Wednesday, denouncing the government’s newly implemented labor codes as an assault on workers’ rights and a boon to corporate power, according to AFP. The sweeping overhaul; hailed by the government as a long awaited modernization; replaces dozens of colonial era laws with four consolidated codes, slashing more than 1,400 regulations down to roughly 350.
But unions say the reforms come at the expense of India’s workforce. Gautam Mody of the New Trade Union Initiative said demonstrations erupted outside factories and in major city centers. “Workers have been blindsided by the government,” he told AFP. “We want fairness, justice, and equity before the law, all of which are being denied under the new codes.”
The labor package does include enhanced safety standards and, for the first time, mandatory social security benefits for gig and platform workers. Yet unions argue these gains are overshadowed by provisions that allow longer shifts, restrict the right to strike, and make it easier for companies to dismiss employees.
One of the most contentious changes raises the threshold for firms requiring government approval for layoffs from 100 to 300 workers, effectively granting medium sized companies greater freedom to retrench staff without oversight. Opposition aligned unions have labeled the reform a “deceptive fraud” against India’s working class.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions warned that the government’s framing of the codes as “pro-worker” masks what it described as the most sweeping rollback of labor protections since independence. The new system, it said, paves the way for “unrestrained hire-and-fire” and deepens contractualization.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended the reforms as essential to making India more attractive to global investors, calling them “one of the most comprehensive and progressive labor-oriented reforms since Independence.”
India remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy, but growth has softened over the past year, falling short of levels needed to generate millions of new, stable jobs. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff escalation driven partly by Washington’s anger over India’s purchases of Russian oil, has added uncertainty to India’s economic outlook.
Analysts at Nomura described the reforms as a needed attempt to modernize “disparate, arcane, and compliance-heavy” labor laws that have long hindered ease of doing business. But they noted the timing aligns with the government’s broader push to accelerate economic reforms amid rising global trade tensions.
