Central trade unions and farmers’ organisations will observe an all-India general strike and road blockade on February 12, opposing what they termed the Union government’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-democratic policies”.
The decision was reiterated at a preparatory State conference organised by central trade unions and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Thennur Uzhavar Sandhai in Tiruchi on Friday.
Representatives of major trade unions, including the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), the LPF, and the UTUC participated.
Addressing the gathering, speakers such as K. Natarajan (LPF), A. Soundararajan (CITU), M. Subramani (HMS), T.M. Moorthy (AITUC), and D.V. Xavier (INTUC) demanded withdrawal of the four labour codes, alleging that consolidation of 29 labour laws into four codes had excluded nearly 80% of workers from legal protection and favoured large corporations.
They called for scrapping the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, alleging these would lead to privatisation of power generation and distribution, adversely affecting farmers and small consumers. Other demands included withdrawal of the recent labour code notification, scrapping the proposal for 100% foreign direct investment in the insurance sector, ensuring statutory minimum support prices for crops, dropping the proposed Seed Bill, and restoring the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in its original form.
SKM State coordinator K. Balakrishnan said workers and farmers would jointly mobilise across districts ahead of the strike.
Published – January 23, 2026 06:15 pm IST
