Strike for Survival
(“When all doors of dialogue are closed, the streets become the voice of justice.”)
On July 9, 2025, India will witness a countrywide shutdown—not orchestrated by political parties, but led by the millions of workers, employees, pensioners and common citizens whose voices have long been stifled. The nationwide strike being organized by all Central Trade Unions and Independent Federations is not a spontaneous act of rebellion; it is the outcome of years of patience, petitions, peaceful protests and unheeded cries for justice. It is not a strike by choice, but a strike by compulsion. The working class has knocked on every democratic door—from representations and black badge demonstrations to dharnas and lunch-hour meetings—but every time, they have been met with silence, denial, and indifference from the government. What else remains when the system refuses to listen?
The demands of this strike are not imaginary nor excessive—they reflect the lived realities and legitimate expectations of the Indian people. At the core of these demands is the call to scrap the four Labour Codes that have replaced the 44 existing labour laws. These new codes, enacted without proper consultation with stakeholders, severely dilute workers' rights and protections. They legalize hire-and-fire policies, weaken safety norms, restrict the right to strike, and reduce the bargaining power of unions. What is being hailed by the government as “labour reform” is nothing but a rollback of decades of hard-won rights, threatening to turn India’s workforce into a voiceless and vulnerable mass.
Equally pressing is the demand to abolish the National Pension System (NPS) and the recently proposed Universal Pension Scheme (UPS). Both schemes tie the future security of government employees to market performance, stripping pensioners of dignity and predictability in old age. These schemes shift the burden of risk from the government to the individual—a cruel irony, especially for those who have served the nation for decades. The only way to ensure a secure post-retirement life is to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which guaranteed inflation-indexed, assured income after retirement. OPS was not just a policy—it was a commitment to social justice and welfare. Its removal has broken the trust of lakhs of government employees who now face uncertainty in their most vulnerable years.
As inflation spirals out of control, ordinary citizens are suffocating under the pressure of unchecked price rise. The cost of essential items like cooking gas, food grains, medicines, vegetables, school fees and public transport has skyrocketed. For the poor and the middle class, survival has become an everyday struggle. While the government continues to boast about GDP numbers and global rankings, the people are being pushed to the brink of hunger and despair. The demand to control inflation and remove the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on essential items is not a political slogan—it is a cry from the nation’s kitchens. When mothers skip meals to feed their children, when senior citizens cannot afford medicines, when families compromise on education to pay electricity bills, it becomes clear that the economic policies are failing the very people they were supposed to serve.
Another major concern is the rapid privatization of public sector undertakings and the outsourcing of permanent jobs. From banking and insurance to railways, postal services, defence units, airports, and power corporations, the government is on a selling spree. Public sector units, built over generations with taxpayer money, are being dismantled and handed over to private Corporate Houses. This process not only destroys employment security but also erodes national assets. Outsourcing of jobs to private agencies has become a backdoor method to deny fair wages, regular employment and social security. Workers employed through contractors receive lower wages for the same work, are denied benefits like medical aid, leaves, and pensions, and live under constant fear of job loss. This exploitative practice must be stopped, and all casual and contractual workers must be regularized with full rights and dignity.
The plight of Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in India Post is particularly painful. These rural postal workers perform essential duties ranging from mail delivery to financial inclusion, yet are not treated as regular government employees. Their pay is abysmally low, their service conditions harsh, and their future uncertain. The demand to grant status pension and regular employment benefits to GDS is long overdue. Ignoring their contribution while exploiting their labour is a national injustice.
Equal pay for equal work remains another unfulfilled promise. The same government office often employs individuals in identical roles—one regular and one outsourced—with drastically different salaries and benefits. This goes against the constitutional principle of equality and fairness. No nation can call itself just while allowing such blatant discrimination to continue in its institutions.
Equally important is the demand for a minimum pension of ₹9000 per month to all, including workers in the unorganized sector. India’s economy may have embraced globalization, but it still runs on the sweat and strength of informal workers who clean cities, cook meals, deliver goods, and build infrastructure without any social safety net. A universal pension is not a charity—it is a recognition of their contribution and a step towards a more inclusive economy.
Despite growing inflation, the government has shown no urgency to constitute the 8th Central Pay Commission, though declared already. Pay revision, every ten years, is a basic institutional mechanism to ensure that employees do not fall behind the cost of living. Beyond wages and pensions, the strike raises fundamental concerns about the very soul of Indian democracy. The demand to declare the right to work, right to free and quality healthcare, and right to free education as fundamental rights reflects the aspirations of a nation that values its people. These are not luxuries to be bargained—they are necessities that define dignity. Millions of young Indians face unemployment. Lakhs of families are pushed into debt due to medical expenses. Crores of children drop out due to unaffordable education. This is not the vision of India that the Constitution promised.
The government’s continued silence on these issues, even after repeated appeals and mass protests, exposes a dangerous disconnect between power and people. The arrogance of authority and the insensitivity of decision-makers have left the common man with no choice but to disrupt normalcy. This strike is not an act of rebellion—it is an act of survival. It is a loud and unified cry from Bharat’s villages, towns and cities: enough is enough. The foundations of democracy tremble when those in power forget to listen. And if the government continues to turn its back on its people, it will not be long before the streets become the new Parliament, and the workers’ voice becomes the new law. “Swaraj does not mean just self-rule—it means rule that listens, serves and uplifts every citizen. If this spirit is betrayed, the people will rise, not in hatred but in rightful resistance.”
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(The writer is a Service Union Representative and a Columnist. Mobile: 9437022669)
Bruhaspati Samal
General Secretary
Confederation of Central Govt. Employees and Workers
Odisha State Coordination Committee, Bhubaneswar
Mobile: 9437022669
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