Millions of India’s workers have vowed to go on strike on Wednesday against right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “anti-labour” economic policies.
Ten major unions have called the nationwide strike for 24 hours over the government’s pro-business initiatives, after recent talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley broke down.
Unions are demanding the government dump plans to sell off stakes in state-run companies to boost the public purse and to shutter unproductive factories.
“We are against these anti-labour policies. The government is going to change the laws to benefit the corporates,” said Gurudas Dasgupta, secretary of the Indian Trade Union Congress which has 3.6 million members.
“The changes they want to bring are against the working classes. I am very confident of a hugely successful strike,” he told AFP.
Workers in the banking, manufacturing, construction and coal mining sectors are among those expected to walk off the job, according to union leaders.
