Muzic SP at 16:54, 12 May 2025

2025-05-12T16:54:06Z

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{{Infobox protest
| title = 2019 Indian General Strike
| subtitle =
| partof = [[Anti-austerity movement]]
| image =
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| date = January 8th and 9th, 2019
| place = [[Europe]], [[Spain]], [[Italy]], [[France]], [[Portugal]], [[Greece]], [[Belgium]], [[Malta]], [[Cyprus]]
| coordinates =
| causes = 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]] <br/> [[Civil disobedience]]
| status =
| result =
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}}

On January 8 and 9, 2019, one of the largest [[General strike|general strikes]] in [[Labour movement|workers' history]] took place in [[India]] with almost 200 million striking people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Grevatt|first=Martha|date=2019-01-14|title=All-India General Strike is largest in world history|url=https://www.workers.org/2019/01/40392/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Workers World|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|language=en|work=IndustriALL|url=https://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2022-02-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Two-day general strike to protect national security: Trade unions|url=https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/01/07/Two-day-general-strike-to-protect-national-security-Trade-unions.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=The Week|language=en}}</ref> Ten Indian union federations had called for the nationwide strike.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2019-01-11|title=[8. und 9. Januar 2019] Zwei Tage Generalstreik in Indien: Beinahe 200 Millionen Menschen beteiligt! » LabourNet Germany|url=https://www.labournet.de/internationales/indien/gewerkschaften-indien/8-und-9-januar-2019-zwei-tage-generalstreik-in-indien-beinahe-200-millionen-menschen-beteiligt/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=LabourNet Germany|language=de-DE}}</ref>

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 [[Premiership of Narendra Modi|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.<ref name=":0" /> The governments of various Indian states, e.g. from [[West Bengal]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] threatened the strikers with countermeasures.<ref name=":0" /> The following [[2020 Indian general strike]] that was held across [[India]] on 26 November 2020 was even larger.

The trade union federations [[Indian National Trade Union Congress|INTUC]], AITUC, [[Hind Mazdoor Sabha|Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)]], CITU, [[All India United Trade Union Centre|All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC)]], TUCC, [[Self Employed Women's Association|Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA)]], AICCTU, [[Labour Progressive Federation|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.

== See also ==
* [[List of strikes]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{India-hist-stub}}
{{Labor-dispute-stub}}

[[Category:General strikes in India]]
[[Category:January 2019 in India]]
[[Category:2019 labor disputes and strikes]]
[[Category:Protests in India]]
[[Category:2019 in India]]

2019 Indian general strike - Revision history

Muzic SP at 16:54, 12 May 2025