Contract workers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), organised under the All India General Kamgar Union (AIGKU), affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), went on strike on 2nd November 2026, protesting persistent violations of labour rights by the university administration and private contractors. Large numbers of sanitation workers, mess workers, security guards, horticulture and maintenance workers participated in the agitation. While sanitation workers observed a strike, mess workers joined their duties wearing black badges in protest against the administration's failure to address their demands.
More than 500 contract workers at JNU have been affected by illegal wage deductions, non-payment of statutory bonuses, arbitrary suspensions and excessive workloads arising from staff shortages. Workers are continuously being made to work overtime without corresponding wage increases. 12 workers have died of heart attacks over the past eight months, amid tremendous work pressure. At the same time, the retrenchment of workers at JNU continues unabated.
The strike follows months of attempts by AIGKU/AICCTU to resolve these grievances through administrative and legal channels. On 10 September 2026, more than 500 workers submitted a detailed charter of demands to the Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC). Following a campus-wide protest march on 24–25 September, the Labour Conciliation Officer convened a formal hearing between AIGKU/AICCTU and the JNU administration. During the conciliation proceedings, the ALC directed the university management to immediately halt retrenchment, issue salary slips and identity cards to all workers, constitute a functioning Grievance Redressal Committee with elected worker representatives by 7 October, provide mandatory safety equipment to sanitation workers, and audit missing statutory bonuses and unlawful wage deductions.
AIGKU had deferred a planned strike in late September following assurances from the administration that a compliance circular would be issued. However, the union said that the administration has failed to implement the key directions. Workers continue to be denied salary slips, while the Labour Commissioner's order on equal pay for equal work remains unimplemented. AICCTU has also raised the denial of maternity benefits to women workers under the vice-chancellorship of Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit.
The principal demands raised by the striking workers are:
1. Stop forcing workers to work overtime at the cost of their lives.
2. Stop illegal monthly wage deductions, suspensions without investigation and arbitrary disciplinary action.
3. Stop the theft of workers' statutory bonuses.
4. Increase the workforce in sanitation, mess services, gardening and other departments.
5. Guarantee workers' right to leave.
6. Ensure workers receive Earned Leave (EL) and Casual Leave (CL).
7. Stop illegal retrenchments and reinstate retrenched workers.
8. Establish a functioning Grievance Redressal Cell.
9. Implement equal pay for equal work.
The workers have also demanded payment for work on holidays and the immediate implementation of the directions issued during the conciliation proceedings.
