New Delhi, 30 Jan

Karnataka government's draft rules under the recently enacted labour codes are harsh and regressive, the CPI(M)-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) said at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.

CITU General Secretary E Kareem noted that many BJP-ruled states are yet to formulate regulations and questioned the Congress-led government’s “hurry”.

"Congress and its trade union INTUC (Indian National Trade Union Congress) have opposed the labour codes," Kareem noted.

In a statement, the CITU said the rules framed by the State government impose harsher conditions, and grant blanket powers that the central codes never authorised.

"The Karnataka draft rules (January 2026) do not merely implement the central acts. They systematically introduce provisions that are more regressive, arbitrary, and unconstitutional than the central codes themselves, creating a legal framework significantly more dangerous for workers' rights," the statement said.

The trade union also expressed deep concern over the statement made by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant during the hearing on a PIL seeking welfare measures for domestic workers on Thursday.

The CJI remarked that trade unions were "largely responsible for stopping industrial growth in the country" and expressed concern that extending legal protections such as minimum wages to domestic workers could result in trade unions dragging households into prolonged litigations.

The new labour codes are designed to weaken the inspection mechanism, and curb workers' right to unionise -- leaving them defenceless -- to promote 'ease of doing business', the CITU alleged, saying the CJI's statement resembled the "political-economic illogic of the Modi government".

The press conference comes as the trade unions prepare for a general strike on 12 February.