The Meghalaya Joint Council of Trade Unions and Associations joined the nationwide general strike on Thursday, expressing strong opposition to what it termed as "anti-worker, anti-farmer, and anti-national policies favoring corporations" of the Central Government.
Speaking to the media, General Secretary Edward Lynshing said that the nationwide strike was organized by a joint platform of ten Central Trade Unions. The protest primarily focused on the codification of 29 existing labour laws into four Labour Codes, which he claimed have negatively impacted the working class.
Lynshing stated that the Council was deeply concerned about the impact of the new labour codes and had extended its solidarity to the ten central trade unions leading the movement. He noted that while several organizations under the Council participated in the strike, some unions chose to stage sector-specific protests within their respective campuses.
The Council has put forward a series of demands, including the immediate scrapping of the four Labour Codes and their rules. It also called for the withdrawal of the Draft Seed Bill and the Electricity Amendment Bill.
Among other demands, the union urged the government to withdraw the proposed "Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act," alleging that it would allow private and foreign entities to enter the nuclear power sector, which it described as highly risky and hazardous, with profit motives.
The Council further demanded the restoration of MGNREGA and the scrapping of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. It also called for the withdrawal of the decision allowing 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance companies.
Additionally, the union sought the withdrawal of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bills, 2025, filling up of vacant posts in government public sector units, and regularisation of anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, and mid-day meal (MDM) workers by granting them government employee status. It also demanded that doctors and nurses under the National Health Mission (NHM) be made permanent employees.