By Cedric Prakash
Ahmedabad, April 30, 2026: The latest issue of Frontline (April 25, 2026) carries an incisive article by T. K. Rajalakshmi titled, What Noida’s worker strikes tell us about the Labor Codes’ broken promise. It notes:
“The protests by industrial workers across the National Capital Region and adjoining areas and the violence and police repression that followed are telling evidence that despite the hollow promises that accompanied the new Labor Codes, little has changed on the ground.”
The article describes how simmering anger erupted in mid‑April when workers in Noida struck work, defying reprisals and state action. “There was no coordinated action, no direct union involvement.
Yet, it seemed like magic,” it says. Reports indicate that employees across 82 factories walked out, protesting against 12‑hour, seven‑day workweeks, unsafe conditions, and meagre wages of ₹ 11,000 to ₹ 12,000.
The government began implementing four Labor Codes in November 2025—on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety. Critics call them “anti‑worker,” citing hire‑and‑fire policies, curtailed strike rights, expanded fixed‑term employment, and diluted safety measures.
The Uttar Pradesh government later announced a 21% wage hike, but unions deemed it inadequate. Police filed cases against thousands involved in the unrest, while mainstream media downplayed the workers’ plight.
For casual and migrant laborers, exploitation remains rampant: long hours, unjust wages, no appointment letters, and absent service conditions. Trade unions have weakened, and the COVID‑19 crisis exposed the misery of India’s working class.
Church upholds worker dignity and rights
The month of May begins with International Workers’ Day, honouring the global workforce, promoting labor rights, and fighting exploitation. The Catholic Church has consistently championed the cause of workers.
On May 15, 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum, the foundational document of modern Catholic Social Teaching. It addressed the plight of workers during the Industrial Revolution, advocating dignity, just wages, and the right to unions, while rejecting both socialism and unrestrained capitalism.
In Laborem Exercens (1981), Pope John Paul II wrote: “The Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”
He later promulgated Centesimus Annus (1991), reaffirming Rerum Novarum and addressing social and economic justice.
The Church celebrates May 1 as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955. A year ago, Pope Leo XIV succeeded Pope Francis, explaining his choice of name:
“Pope Leo XIII in his historic Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.
“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”
The Church has consistently defended workers’ rights. Cardinal Joseph Cardijn (1882-1967), founder of the Young Christian Workers, mainstreamed Rerum Novarum in the Church’s mission. Pope Leo XIII wrote:
“(We must) save unfortunate working people from the cruelty of men of greed, who use human beings as mere instruments for money‑making. It is neither just nor human to grind men down with excessive labour.”
The point is: is anyone listening? Workers must unite. We are called to stand in solidarity, ensuring just wages, humane hours, and dignity in labour.
(Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash is a human rights, reconciliation & peace activist and writer. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com)
(Photo: pexels.com)