Central trade unions have called for a national strike on April 1 demanding that the four labour codes passed in November be repealed. Worker unions and worker rights organisations have raised concerns about how the new labour codes, which are likely to come into effect in April, will further dilute their rights. In the midst of this struggle are the broader ramifications of the US-Israel war on Iran, which have affected workers all over India.
The life and death battle being waged by workers in industry and corporations in Haryana’s Panipat illustrates what is at stake for basic labour rights and dignity.
Workers at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, the largest public sector undertaking in the country, have been protesting since late February.
On February 24, two workers of the Indian Oil Corporation died in an industrial accident, say news reports. As they lay bleeding, fighting to stay alive, the management allegedly took some time calling an ambulance to take them to a hospital. The third worker survived but his leg was amputated.
Angered by this perceived indifference, but also years of injustice, around 30,000 to 40,000 workers went on strike on February 26.
In a report, the portal Counterview said that jammers blocking internet access have stopped images and information about the strike from spreading beyond the refinery gates. The police were deployed at the refinery where they lathicharged some workers and Central Industrial Security Force personnel fired into the air after violence during the protests, according to The Hindu.
Counterview said a fact-finding team noted that a first information report had been registered against 2,500 unidentified workers, but no proceedings have been initiated against the management or contractors for the negligence that caused the accident.
The Indian Oil refinery at Panipat has been operational since 1998 and currently employs over 50,000 workers across various units, said the Counterview report. It is among the largest integrated refineries in South Asia but nearly all workers are on contractual arrangements even though their work is essential and continuous.
Workers told reporters that they work for 12 hours a day but are paid for eight hours and given just two days of leave a month. The new labour codes, rather than address such shortcomings, make the Contract Labour Act infructuous. Corporations and undertakings can now employ workers on a fixed term employment basis, which makes contract labour legal
While the war continues in West Asia, workers in India suffer.
Panipat’s textile industry is grappling with a slowdown since the US-Israel war on Iran. Local industry officials told Apparel Resources India the latest conflict has disrupted orders in the pipeline and slowed down new orders.
Panipat’s home furnishing exports amounted to $927 million in 2021, with the US accounting for one of its biggest markets, followed by European countries, said the report by Apparel Resources India. Israel imports textiles worth $59.9 million-$83.8 million each year from Panipat, and though trading with Iran is limited, regional disturbances have caused logistical issues. US tariffs, the report noted, had already complicated matters, reducing business and leading to losses.
But what was not was that the closure of 300 textile factories have left at least 35,000 workers without jobs – most of them are migrant workers who have returned home to their villages, as pointed out by a report in Financial World. The report said that the shortage of gas supply has affected operations in the industrial sectors of Panipat, Rohtak and Ambala.
The current government has often resisted people fighting for their rights and instead emphasised the importance of duty. Here, it is important to remember that one of the fundamental duties is to uphold the ideals of the Indian Constitution.
Those ideals are also in the Directive Principles of State Policy, which say it is the duty of the government to ensure that workers have just and humane conditions of work and with living wages. On April 1, workers and farmers will come out in all their strength and voice their demands, assert their rights just to survive.
Nandita Haksar is the author of How Robots Stole Our Jobs: Struggles of Suzuki Workers in the age of AI (Aakar, 2026).
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