Any move to curtail trade union rights will be opposed: BMS

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will address workers affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) during the concluding ceremony of the 70^th anniversary of the Sangh Parivar-led trade union. Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Monday (July 21, 2025) about the event, BMS president Hiranmay Pandya said his organisation was open to work with other trade unions too on the issue of trade union rights in the country. He said that the BMS stood for workers’ rights since its formation in 1955.

When asked about the opposition to four Labour Codes, Mr. Pandya said the BMS welcomed the Code on Wages and the Code on Social Security. He said the two Codes paved the way for minimum wages and social security for every worker. “Why should someone oppose it?” he asked. He, however, said the BMS had suggested amendments to the Code of Industrial Relations and the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions.

When asked about the apprehensions of other 10 central trade unions that the Code on Industrial Relations could curtail trade union rights, Mr. Pandya said the BMS would oppose any such move and added that the union was at the forefront of protests against the present BJP-led regime too.

The four Codes, passed in Parliament in 2019 and 2020 in the second term of the Narendra Modi government, have been opposed by various Central Trade Unions.

He said the BMS had earlier worked with other unions and was still ready to cooperate with them. “It is for them to decide if they want to work for the workers’ interests rather than function based on political motives,” he said. On privatisation, he said the BMS was of the view that industries in strategic sectors should not be privatised.