On 21st November, 2025 the Union Government issued notifications bringing into force four Labour Codes - the Code on Wages, 2019, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020,(OSH Code) the Social Security Code, 2020; and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 - that had been passed between 2019 and 2021. The four Labour Codes, presented as an anti-colonial “labour reform”, essentially constitute a reorientation of the State’s role in mediating class relations in the country.

[This is a greeting message of AICCTU delivered by comrade Clifton D’ Rozario, All India Vice President, to the 18th All India Conference of CITU]

Dear comrades of the presidium, colleagues of the central trade unions, and delegates of the 18th All India Conference of CITU; on behalf of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), I extend my revolutionary greetings to you all. 

Friends,

The Modi government is fully prepared to implement the four Labour Codes. After notification on November 21st, central rules are being formulated to implement them. Then, the four Labour Codes will be implemented from April 1st, 2026. The government is using widespread false propaganda to portray these codes as beneficial to workers.

Declaration

We, the Joint Platform of Ten Central Trade Unions, independent Sectoral Federations and Associations are meeting today in Delhi to deliberate on the everworsening situation in the country on all fronts. This convention is taking place in a very critical situation, when the union government, in order to contain and weaken the trade unions and place the Indian Working Class Movement disarmed in face of the onslaught of capital, have come out with the four labour codes.

Book Review

Though working people constitute a vast majority of the country, the issues of the working class and labour legislation is often neglected in the public imagination. The slow and steady erosion of strong labour law protections through anti-worker Courts and the breakdown of several strong trade unions and movements have gone hand-in-hand with increasing precarity and uncertainty in the lives of workers. Mainstream media no longer sees labour issues as worthy of regular coverage.

The following joint statement was issued to the press after meeting of the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent Sectoral Federations/Associations on 15th May 2025. 

Politically, 2024 saw the BJP government face a significant setback in the national elections. At the same time, the year saw a number of workers’ struggles from various sectors, protesting the anti-worker policies of not only the BJP as prime perpetrator, but also various other oppositional governments and private establishments who share the same crony corporate capitalist mores.

Halt the Indiscriminate Privatisation!

Call by the Central Trade Unions

In this series, various changes sought to be brought in by the proposed labour codes are being discussed. It comes as no surprise that the Codes, brought in clearly show the corporate nature of the state. While issues such as the overbroad exemptions, the excessive delegation and the definitional changes have been discussed previously, this note considers the changing face of the grievance redressal machinery in the Industrial Relations (IR) Code.