Industrial strikes in Noida, India

Last April, the Indian industrial city of Noida saw large-scale revolts and a series of strikes that brought daily life to a standstill and led to the erection of barricades.

Pent-up anger over the new labor law, which came into force in November 2025 and allows working hours to be extended to 10–12 hours, erupted on a massive scale, with wage disparities providing the spark.

This working-class revolt began with a sudden strike by contract workers at the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India plant in Haryana, a state bordering Noida. They were demanding a wage increase.

On April 8, around 3,000 workers from a dozen companies in Haryana had gathered at IMT Manesar to support their fellow workers’ struggle.

On April 9, when the Haryana state government yielded to the struggle by raising the minimum wage by 35%, Noida workers, mainly in the garment, hosiery, and light industry sectors, doing the same work as workers in Haryana but earning almost 6,000 rupees less a month, immediately grasped the situation and took to the streets to demand higher wages.

The demands of Noida’s workers, who are literally fighting for survival, can be listed as follows:

• A minimum wage of 20,000–26,000 rupees, compared with the current wages of 10,000–15,000 rupees in Uttar Pradesh, which have not been revised since 2014;
• A maximum working day of 8 hours, against the current norm of 12–16-hour shifts on all seven days of the week;
• Overtime paid at twice the regular rate for hours worked beyond normal working hours, a legal requirement systematically violated in practice;
• Payment of the unpaid wages owed by various employers;
• Equal conditions for temporary and permanent staff, including written contracts, paid annual leave, and social security entitlements; implementation of rights of which 58–67% of the workforce in Uttar Pradesh is entirely deprived;
• Repeal or withdrawal of four new labor laws that, according to the unions, have legalized 13-hour working days and stripped workers of their collective bargaining rights.

The protests in Noida began with work stoppages and mass peaceful sit-ins at more than 82 factories.

On April 9 and 10, workers gathered near the NSEZ metro station in Phase 2 (a major industrial hub and officially designated industrial area in Noida) and took to the streets, demanding a minimum wage of at least 20,000 rupees to survive. Tensions between workers and management intensified on the second and third days.

The protests began spontaneously, without the leadership of the established unions, as workers were spurred into action by the impact of the wage increase in Haryana.

At the grassroots level, the labor organizations present from the outset included Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan (MASA), an umbrella organization bringing together 16 small unions, alongside Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, IFTU Sarvahara, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, All India Labor Reform Sangharsh Abhiyan (AILRSA), and Naujawan Bharat Sabha.

These unions operate outside the main trade union federations, focusing particularly on unorganized workers and contract workers.

The strike and protests in Noida served as a point of reference for workers’ struggles in various Indian states. The Noida strike sparked solidarity strikes at Motherson Group plants in Faridabad and Bhiwadi.

Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, described the incident as a “conspiracy” aimed at derailing the workers’ actions.

On the fifth day, April 13, the struggle degenerated into violence; around 45,000 workers blocked all the main roads, including NH-9, Sector 62, and the access routes to Akshardham.

In Sector 84, some vehicles were set on fire, and reports emerged of stone-throwing and other violent incidents; the police used tear gas against the workers.

Large security contingents, including the PAC and the RAF (the State’s police force), were deployed in the area, and all police leave was canceled.

The workers pouring into the streets denounced the harsh conditions of the class struggle against capital; they were rebelling against 12- to 16-hour shifts, unpaid wages, and the systematic denial of their needs by the bourgeoisie, which left them without any security.

During the protests, one worker summed up the plight of their class: “Rent is 5,000 rupees. Once you add food, transport, and the children’s education, it is impossible to survive on this wage.”

Police violence peaked on April 13–14; more than 350 workers were arrested. Those detained were subjected to ill-treatment.

This violence will remain etched in the memory of the proletariat. Like every counterrevolutionary force, the police will sooner or later pay for it.

By April 16, most factories had resumed operations, and the protests had become scattered, localized gatherings. The intense phase of the revolt therefore lasted about a week, from April 9 to 16.

Outside the industrial areas, Noida’s domestic workers officially joined the protests, demanding wage increases and better working conditions.

This shows how, with a more organized and militant core at the forefront, the entire working class, even workers who are more dispersed and disorganized because of their working conditions, can unite in struggle.

On Saturday, April 17, the Uttar Pradesh government officially announced revised minimum wages for specific jobs throughout the state. These wages were published in accordance with Section 3(b) of the India States and Union Territories Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 and replaced the previous wage decision dated March 25, 2026.

Although the protests were suppressed, the wage demands were taken into account in order to placate the protesters, and substantial wage increases were implemented. The increases varied according to workers’ skill levels and are well below the 20,000–26,000 rupees demanded by the workers and unions.

Deeper structural problems, such as the absence of written contracts, the lack of social security, the four labor laws, and the criminalization of protests, remain entirely unresolved.

At the end of April, more than 350 workers were still in custody. Seven First Information Reports (FIRs) had been registered, and lawyers reported that various additional charges had been brought to prevent their release on bail.

From April 30 to May 8, Section 163 of the Indian Penal Code (restrictions on public assemblies) was enforced throughout Gautam Buddh Nagar district, covering the May Day period. The restrictions affected International Workers’ Day in order to prevent workers’ demonstrations on that day.

Although bourgeois left-wing organizations were not very effective during the strikes, they tried to influence the workers with their opportunist political lines.

Rising oil and gas prices will lead to higher inflation in the coming months, leaving the wage increases won through these struggles, which were already below what had been demanded, insufficient to meet the needs of the Indian working class. Together with workers around the world, it will once again take up the struggle for its immediate interests.

The only way for workers to overcome these strike bans and police violence and confront the capitalist economic crisis is to organize in militant class-struggle unions under the leadership of the Communist Party and overthrow bourgeois rule in India and throughout the world.