Standing up for Indian workers
India Labour Solidarity (ILS) is an initiative to promote solidarity between workers and their trade union and labour movements in the UK and India.
The Tory government is pushing to deepen trade, industrial and business relations between the two countries. At the same time India is slashing back basic labour rights through a new set of ‘Labour Codes’, for example doing away with the eight-hour working day. This is being done alongside a wave of attacks on human rights, and the rights of minorities and people from oppressed castes, by the Indian government and the right-wing nationalist forces driving it. The Tories have close links with India's government and the Hindu right.
The farmers’ and workers’ struggles that pushed back the Modi government in 2021 show that these forces are not invincible. But our sisters and brothers in India urgently need solidarity.
Right-wing governments across the globe ‘learn’ from each other – repression of labour struggles in one country can have ripple effects. Conversely, victories for workers in one country can help workers in others. Cross-border labour solidarity is key for leveraging national governments to stop undermining hard-won labour rights all over the world.
ILS is a collective of concerned UK labour movement members and citizens working in and with UK trade unions, Labour Party and other labour movement organisations to:
• raise awareness in the British labour movement and left of social and human rights struggles, particularly workers’ struggles, in India; and work to generate solidarity
• raise awareness of how globalisation of, for example, supply chains necessitates stronger solidarity between workers in Britain and India
How you can support our campaign:
Introduce our model motion in your local trade union, political party and any other organisation branches
