2019 Indian general strike

2019 Indian General Strike
Part of Anti-austerity movement
Date	January 8th and 9th, 2019
Location	Europe, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, Malta, Cyprus
Caused by	Stop the Modi government's anti-union legislation
Goals	a minimum wage, limitations on contract work and minimum workers' rights.
Methods	Strike action, including flying pickets Civil disobedience

On January 8 and 9, 2019, one of the largest general strikes in workers' history took place in India with almost 200 million striking people.^[1]^[2]^[3] Ten Indian union federations had called for the nationwide strike.^[4]

The call for strikes led to strong participation, both in the various sectors of the public service and in privately organized industry and the informal sector. The trade union federations had agreed on a catalog of 12 demands and wanted, among other things, to prevent anti-union legislation from the Modi government that was about to be passed. The strikers also demanded a minimum wage and pension for people in India, and a 12-month limit on contract work.^[4] The governments of various Indian states, e.g. from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu threatened the strikers with countermeasures.^[4] The following 2020 Indian general strike that was held across India on 26 November 2020 was even larger.

The trade union federations INTUC, AITUC, Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), CITU, All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), TUCC, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), AICCTU, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and UTUC had called for the strike. Only the RSS union, which belongs to the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, did not take part.

References

^ Grevatt, Martha (2019-01-14). "All-India General Strike is largest in world history". Workers World. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
^ "Over 250 million workers join national strike in India". IndustriALL. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
^ "Two-day general strike to protect national security: Trade unions". The Week. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
^ ^a ^b ^c "[8. und 9. Januar 2019] Zwei Tage Generalstreik in Indien: Beinahe 200 Millionen Menschen beteiligt! » LabourNet Germany". LabourNet Germany (in German). 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2022-02-06.