Officials order weekly offs
After the protests escalated, local authorities instructed industrial units to guarantee a compulsory weekly off and to improve working conditions as part of early mitigation steps (moneycontrol.com) (hindustantimes.com). Late‑night negotiations with worker groups included wage‑hike and weekly‑off demands among the items on the table (hindustantimes.com).
Noida authorities told factories to give workers a compulsory weekly day off after wage protests in the city’s industrial belt turned violent on April 13. (moneycontrol.com) District Magistrate Medha Rupam said industrial units must also pay double wages for overtime and for work done on weekly holidays. The orders were announced after a joint meeting at the Noida Authority office in Sector 6 with police, labour, and industrial officials. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The administration also said salaries should be paid by the 10th of each month, annual bonuses should be cleared before November 30, and factories must provide medical cover, workplace safety measures, and a complaints system for harassment cases. Officials said a control room was set up with four helpline numbers for worker complaints. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The immediate trigger was a wage gap with neighboring Haryana, where the state recently raised minimum wages by about 35%. In Noida, workers said they were still earning roughly ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 a month and wanted pay revised to ₹18,000 to ₹20,000. (moneycontrol.com) (hindustantimes.com) The protests began in Noida’s Phase 2 Hosiery Complex and spread across other industrial pockets in Gautam Buddh Nagar. News18 reported the unrest had entered its fourth day by April 13, with workers also demanding double overtime pay, medical coverage, timely bonuses, and weekly offs. (news18.com) By Monday, the agitation had spilled into clashes with police in Phase 2 and Sector 60, with reports of stone-pelting, vandalism, and vehicles being set on fire. Police said extra deployment was sent across industrial zones as traffic and factory operations were disrupted. (news18.com) (firstpost.com) Late-night talks then shifted to a state-level response. A high-level Uttar Pradesh government committee, formed on April 13 on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s direction, met worker representatives in Greater Noida to hear demands on wages, weekly offs, overtime, and workplace treatment. (hindustantimes.com) Industry groups said they understood worker anger but warned that a sharp wage jump would raise costs for factories already hit by pandemic-era losses and recent supply disruptions. Vipin Malhan of the Noida Entrepreneurs Association told The Times of India that Haryana’s wage revision had intensified pressure on employers in Noida. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Noida and Greater Noida employ more than 1 million workers across electronics, apparel, automobiles, logistics, information technology, and mobile manufacturing, according to local officials. For now, the administration’s first move is not a wage order but an attempt to enforce weekly rest, overtime rules, and basic shop-floor safeguards before the next round of talks. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
