Contract workers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi continued their agitation for the eighth consecutive day on 9 November, with solidarity and support from the AISA and student community. The workers are protesting against the university administration's refusal to implement the Labour Commissioner's directions and address their long-pending demands concerning unpaid statutory bonuses, illegal wage deductions, staff shortages and basic labour rights. Despite repeated negotiations involving labour authorities, the workers' union and the university administration, neither the JNU administration nor the private contractors have honoured the commitments made during the conciliation proceedings.
The protesting workers, organised under the All India General Kamgar Union (AIGKU), affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), began their strike on 2 November. Sanitation workers, mess workers, security personnel, horticulture workers and maintenance staff have participated in the agitation. While sanitation workers went on strike, mess workers registered their protest by reporting for duty wearing black badges.
Comrade Anju, AIGKU leader and sanitation worker at JNU, said that workers at the university have been struggling for their basic rights for a long time. Despite working tirelessly to keep the university clean and functioning, they continue to be denied their rightful wages, bonuses, leave and other benefits. Even during Diwali, workers were deprived of their rightful bonuses. The university administration and contractors have failed to honour their commitments despite the intervention of the Labour Commissioner.
She asserted that the workers would continue their struggle until their demands were met.
The workers' agitation follows months of protests and efforts to secure their rights through administrative and legal channels. On 10 September, more than 500 workers submitted a detailed charter of demands to the Assistant Labour Commissioner. Following a campus-wide protest march on 24 and 25 September, the Labour Conciliation Officer convened negotiations between the union and university administration.
During the proceedings, the Assistant Labour Commissioner directed the university management to halt retrenchments, issue salary slips and identity cards, provide mandatory safety equipment to sanitation workers, investigate unpaid statutory bonuses and unlawful wage deductions, and establish a functioning Grievance Redressal Committee with elected worker representatives by 7 October.
The union had deferred a planned strike in September following assurances that the administration would issue a circular implementing these directions. However, the administration failed to honour its commitments, compelling the workers to resume their agitation in November.
The continuing struggle has exposed the exploitative conditions faced by contract workers who sustain the everyday functioning of one of India's premier public universities. More than 500 workers have faced illegal wage deductions, non-payment of statutory bonuses, arbitrary suspensions and excessive workloads caused by severe staff shortages. Workers have been forced to undertake prolonged overtime without corresponding wage increases. According to the union, 12 workers have died of heart attacks over the past eight months amid intense work pressure, while arbitrary retrenchments have continued.
The denial of statutory bonuses has become a particularly pressing issue. While the university celebrated Diwali, its sanitation, mess and security workers were forced to spend the festival without receiving their rightful bonuses. The failure to release these payments, even after intervention by the labour authorities, reflects the administration's disregard for the rights and dignity of the workers whose labour keeps the university functioning.
Women contract workers have also been denied maternity benefits under the vice-chancellorship of Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. The administration has failed to implement the Labour Commissioner's directions on equal pay for equal work, while workers continue to be denied basic employment documents, including salary slips.
The striking workers have demanded an immediate end to forced overtime, illegal monthly wage deductions, arbitrary suspensions and disciplinary actions without investigation. They have called for the payment of all pending statutory bonuses, an increase in the workforce across sanitation, mess services, gardening and other departments, and the guarantee of Earned Leave (EL), Casual Leave (CL) and maternity benefits. They have also demanded an end to illegal retrenchments, reinstatement of retrenched workers, payment for work performed on holidays, implementation of equal pay for equal work and the establishment of a functioning Grievance Redressal Committee.
AICCTU has condemned the JNU administration's continued defiance of the directions issued during labour conciliation proceedings. The union has demanded immediate implementation of these directions and fulfilment of the commitments made to workers.
The JNU workers' struggle continues, demanding an end to wage theft, protection against arbitrary retrenchments and the full implementation of their legal and democratic rights.
