New Delhi, April 30 -- Recent months have seen worker protests across states. Workers protested low wages and poor work conditions in an IOCL factory in Barauni, Bihar, in February. This was followed by protests in Surat, Gujarat. More recently, workers protested in Manesar, Haryana, raising similar issues. The latest unrest was in Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP), where workers turned out in large numbers to protest.

These protests were in different industries, in both the public and private sectors, and in states with varying labour laws and industrial structures. Common to them was the fact that almost all workers were contractual; employed without formal social protection, their wages were low and work conditions poor.

Their demands were s...