Factory workers in Noida, a city close to New Delhi in Uttar Pradesh state, India began a cross-city strike for wages that reflected the rising cost of living on the 9th of April. After days of street battles with the police, the Uttar Pradesh state raised the minimum wage. Workers and their Unions were clear that it was too little while employers predictably claimed any rise would put them out of business. The strike prompted another by domestic workers and the street battles with police are fierce. The usual claims of “outside agitator” involvement going so far as to talk of a role played by Pakistan. paramilitary forces and rapid response teams have been deployed across Noida and at key Delhi border points and 300 people arrested. This reflects a refusal to acknowledge that worker mobilisation in face of a runaway cost-of-living is international and with real cause.
The strike by 3800 workers from all over the world at the Greely Colorado slaughterhouse and beef packaging plant of meat oligarch JBS also prompted by an impossible cost of living has been successful. “The agreement secures wage increases over the next two years that were about 33% higher than JBS offered in a pre-strike offer, according to the union. The deal also protects workers from having to pay for personal protective equipment and safeguards them against increases in healthcare costs” the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said.
Malaysia: the Gig Workers Act 2025 came into force on 31 March, making the country one of the first in the region to introduce comprehensive legislation specifically for gig workers. The law covers more than 1.6 million workers – including delivery riders and freelancers – granting them clearer rights around service agreements, income transparency, anti-discrimination protections and social security coverage.
Amazon delivery drivers in New York wear the company’s uniforms, follow its routes, and are tracked by its software. Yet, legally, they don’t work for Amazon. (DPA), the Deliver Protection , a bill introduced by socialist New York City Councillor Tiffany Cabán and with a committee hearing scheduled for April 9, would try to resolve that mismatch by requiring certain last-mile delivery facilities to be licensed by the city and, in practice, forcing companies like Amazon to take responsibility for the workforce they already direct. It is the next step in a series of city laws regulating the delivery economy — following minimum pay rules and workplace standards — that have improved conditions at the margins while leaving the structure of the system intact.
An investigative report alleges that Chinese migrant workers involved in constructing the BYD factory in Szeged, Hungary, were subjected to conditions indicative of forced labour. Based on interviews with workers, the report claims that labourers faced excessively long hours, alongside withheld wages, including portions retained in China that could be forfeited if workers left early. Workers were reportedly recruited through subcontractors, sometimes with recruitment fees that placed them in debt, and were employed under improper visa arrangements.