The World's Biggest Strike
- fionacsweet
- Dec 4, 2020
- 1 min read
In a slight deviation from our normal topic, today I would like to take the time to discuss a news story that hasn't been talked about in the media nearly as much as it should.
The working class has united across India in the form of a 250 million person strike. "With one in four working-age people in India participating, this 24-hour work stoppage can again claim the status of 'world's biggest strike.'" 10 of India's labor federations took part.
Strikers held sit-ins and mass rallies, and blocked traffic and train tracks. They burned effigies and practiced inclusion: there was participation by the unemployed, students, and women (who played a big role).
They are striking to demand a minimum income, food for poor families, a guaranteed number of workdays, higher wages, pensions for everyone, and the end of forced early retirements. They are also calling for the ending of government privatizations and the withdrawing of all "anti-farmer laws and anti-worker labor codes." Some other demands listed included stopping the outsourcing of work, re-imposing the 12-hour day, and providing safety measures to workers to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Although government forced blocked the farmers' path with barricades, barbed wire, tear gas, and water cannons, the strikers were prepared. They packed food, water, and cell-phone chargers. They did not give up.
I do not know why the media isn't reporting on this, but I think it's amazing. The strikers' sheer perseverance should serve as inspiration to us all. We are all in this together.
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