“One working class, one struggle” Workers protest at Jantar Mantar, demand repeal of the new Labour Codes
The MASA-led workers' protest at Jantar Mantar highlighted fears that the new Labour Codes dilute workplace safeguards and weaken the constitutional architecture of labour rights in India.
Tanishka Shah
Published on: 21 December 2025, 03:00 pm
ON DECEMBER 14, Jantar Mantar became a focal point of labour dissent as hundreds gathered demanding the immediate rollback of the four central Labour Codes, which the Union government notified for implementation on November 21. Organised by the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan (MASA), a joint coordination platform of fourteen workers’ organisations and trade unions, the protest was marked by sustained sloganeering and speeches that denounced what participants described as the corporatisation of labour law and the worsening precarity of the working class.
The Jantar Mantar protest formed part of a broader national mobilisation. MASA coordinated demonstrations across multiple states, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, with programmes held in Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Ludhiana, Davangere, and other cities.
Speakers highlighted concrete grievances arising from the Codes, including the Union government’s persistent refusal to engage in consultations with trade unions and its disregard for the tripartite framework. Despite reported police pressure and administrative constraints, the intensity of opposition—expressed through placards, impassioned speeches, musical performances, and resolute sit-ins, including significant participation by women workers—was unmistakable.
The Codes place trade unions and workers on an unequal footing vis-à-vis employers. Trade unions may be deregistered for violations under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, yet there exists no comparable sanction for companies under the Companies Act, 2013 or other corporate laws.
Why labour unions are protesting the labour codes
The new Labour Codes mark a decisive shift in the governing philosophy of labour regulation: away from the constitutional commitment to fair conditions of work and towards an overriding emphasis on “ease of doing business.” Since 2014, labour law has increasingly been reframed as an impediment to investment rather than as a mechanism for correcting structural inequality between labour and capital. This ideological reorientation undermines the social justice foundation of labour law and treats workers’ rights as transactional costs rather than enforceable entitlements grounded in Articles 14, 19, 21, and 23 of the Constitution.
