The 4 Labour Code Bill and the Unmaking of Labour Rights in India
Introduction
Under the Modi government, legislative interventions targeting different segments of working people have followed a clear pattern. There was first an amendment that undermined the interests of advocates, then three farm laws that threatened agrarian livelihoods, and now the “4 Labour Code Bill”, which constitutes a comprehensive assault on workers’ rights.
Presented in the language of rationalisation and simplification, the new framework collapses almost all existing labour laws into four codes: the Code on Wages, the Code on Industrial Relations, the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, and the Code on Social Security. The central government claims that this streamlining removes legal complexity and benefits workers. In practice, workers’ organisations across the country have consistently opposed these codes and have mounted sustained protests against them.
This article situates the proposed codes in relation to the labour laws historically won through workers’ struggles in India, and argues that the “4 Labour Code Bill” amounts to a reversal of nearly a century of gradual progress in labour protection.
Legislative trajectory and political economy
In February 2021, the central government completed the process of finalising draft rules for the four codes and secured their passage in both houses of Parliament. The next step requires state governments to frame and notify rules under these central codes. Without state level rules, the framework cannot be operationalised. The draft has been circulated to state governments; thirteen have already given their approval, and the remaining governments are expected to follow suit. This expectation rests on a straightforward assessment of the political economy: parties in power, irrespective of formal ideological differences, increasingly function as representatives of domestic and foreign capital.
Once the President gives assent to the full scheme of rules notified under the codes, the “4 Labour Code Bill” will come into force as law. The clear intention of the Modi government has been to implement this regime in the period 2022 to 2023 and beyond.
To assess what is at stake for the working class, it is necessary to recall some of the key labour laws that emerged over the twentieth century. India has around forty labour laws, each with distinct scopes and protections, most of them the outcome of prolonged struggles and negotiations. The discussion below highlights how the new codes undermine or empty out these existing protections.
Trade union rights and the right to strike
The Trade Union Act of 1926 granted workers the legal right to organise themselves into unions in order to defend their interests. On this legal foundation, trade unions were formed across workplaces, periodically confronting company managements and governments, articulating demands, and organising strikes and demonstrations. The Constitution of India reinforces this right: Article 19, clause 1, sub clause (c) explicitly affirms the right to form associations and unions.
The new labour codes strike at this core. Under the revised provisions, workers can form a trade union only with the prior permission of the company administration. Individuals who are social workers or lawyers are barred from membership of trade unions, thereby severing organic links between workers’ organisations and broader democratic and legal support structures. For any strike action, unions must provide two months’ notice to the administration. To call for a strike is criminalised, with punishment through imprisonment and fine. These measures convert what was a constitutionally protected right into a tightly policed privilege that can be denied or punished at will.
