Former employees of shuttered National Textile Corporation mills across Mumbai have maintained a rotating hunger strike since 6 October, pressing the organisation to clear outstanding wage arrears and retirement dues owed to them. Employees report that back pay and pension contributions covering several months have gone unsettled for a large number of workers, who have put the government on notice that demonstrations will intensify unless the matter is addressed.
Among the 15 mills belonging to NTC, just four — Tata Mill, Indu Mill No. 5, Podar Mill, and Digvijay Mill — remain in active operation. Employees represented by the National Mill Mazdoor Union have maintained a line outside those mill entrances dating back to 7 September.
Hopper helpers, drivers, and other sanitation personnel stationed in Jaipur's Kishanpole zone halted work on 9 October, pointing to a backlog in the issuance of experience certificates they needed to submit applications under a Rajasthan sanitation recruitment process whose deadline fell on 13 October. Sanyukt Valmiki Evam Safayi Shramik Sangh, the union leading the action, maintained that municipal authorities had not been forthcoming and that the work stoppage would remain in place until the relevant certificates were formally issued.
Officials responded that salary records, ESI contributions, and PF documentation all require independent verification before a certificate can be issued, and that the multi-step compliance check is what has been holding up the queue of pending applications.
On 14 October, a gathering of over 50,000 contract healthcare workers took to the streets of Lucknow, pressing authorities for permanent job status, wages on par with their counterparts, and greater acknowledgement of their contributions. According to those involved, the responsibilities assigned to them mirror those of permanent employees, yet their pay remains lower and their workload has been expanding.
Remuneration for contract nurses, doctors, and health officers falls below the rates their permanently employed counterparts receive. Monthly pay for those on contract arrangements sits between 40,000 and 45,000 rupees (roughly $420 to $472), whereas staff holding permanent positions take home around 200,000 rupees (approximately $2,102).
On 14 October, workers employed by Panjab University on a contractual basis staged a demonstration over unpaid wages, below-standard pay, and the absence of permanent employment status spanning many years of service. Monthly pay for these workers falls in a band of roughly 10,000 to 15,000 rupees, equivalent to somewhere between $101 and $158.
On 12 October, a collective of over 2,500 daily-wage multipurpose health workers attached to Tamil Nadu's government hospital network took to the streets in protest, with some participants undertaking a hunger strike, as the group pushed for resolution of longstanding grievances tied to their working conditions and job security. Over 200 people gathered in Chennai were taken into custody by police, while accounts from the ground pointed to travel restrictions placed on labourers attempting to make their way to the demonstration from surrounding districts.
Tamil Nadu's Health Minister, K. G. Arunraj, told workers that their demands were being looked at and that any steps taken would need to be rolled out in stages, as talks between the two sides remained ongoing.
More than a thousand workers drawn from several garment factories converged on Uttara, a district of Dhaka, on Wednesday, blocking road traffic as they called for a monthly base wage of 30,000 taka (US$243), clearance of outstanding entitlements, and pay increases tied to the rising cost of living. Demonstrators shut down the Dhaka–Mymensingh Highway at Azampur and Rajlokkhi from roughly 11 a.m., with the action extending outward to take in the airport road and surrounding streets.
Road access in the area was restricted for several hours, with vehicle movement on nearby routes backed up as a result. Talks between law enforcement, traffic officials, and demonstrators brought the blockage to an end around 1:30 p.m., with the gatherings extending into a third straight day of action.
Employees reported that their pay was not keeping pace with climbing prices on everyday necessities, and placards at the demonstration carried demands for either lower costs on those goods or higher wages. The action, employees indicated, would persist until their grievances received a response.
Port employees at Chattogram resumed a collective hunger strike, demanding safeguards against redundancy and the cancellation of a 15-year deal under which operational authority over the New Mooring Container Terminal would pass to Dubai-based DP World. Two organisations — Port Protection Struggle Council and Chattogram Bandar Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal — brought demonstrators together in front of the port's One Stop Service Building to stage the action.
A hunger strike set to begin on October 19 was placed on the table by workers as leverage, contingent on the government entering into talks no later than the previous day. Trade union representatives raised objections over what they described as a lack of openness in how the deal between the Chittagong Port Authority and DP World was concluded. Two earlier demonstrations — a human chain on 22 September and a march four days later — set the stage for the move now underway.
Among the workforce's listed demands: the dropping of charges against 15 employees and activists, the filling of unfilled positions, and a requirement that workers' representatives be brought into talks before any concession agreement is finalised. Officials stated that the arrangement is expected to expand throughput at ports, draw in overseas investment, and lift operational performance. Employees have raised concerns about their employment prospects and voiced opposition to handing over a state-owned trade facility to an overseas company under a confidentiality agreement.
On 9 October, staff from the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Building Tasmania — covered under the Community and Public Sector Union — stopped work and assembled in a rally outside the Executive Building in Hobart. A restructure connected to the state government's plan to eliminate 1,700 public service positions by 2029–30 — among them 250 roles at Building Tasmania — has drawn organised resistance. Members have called for a formal consultation on the restructuring process, and votes of no confidence have been lodged against both that process and Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
A full day of strike action by National Tertiary Education Union members at the University of Melbourne on 12 October gave way to a teaching ban that ran from 13 to 16 October. Workers are pushing for a 20 per cent wage increase across three years, superannuation of 17 per cent for casual employees, and caps on the volume of work assigned to individuals.
A two-hour stoppage covering long-haul aircraft — the 787 and A380 fleets among them — was put into effect by over 100 Professionals Australia-covered engineers based at Qantas's Sydney headquarters, running from 10 a.m. through to midday on 12 October. Workers had gone without a walkout for 16 years before taking that step. A 13 per cent uplift in pay during the opening year forms the core of the union's current claim, put forward against a backdrop of earnings that have repeatedly failed to keep pace with inflation. Qantas has offered workers a three per cent annual pay increase, leaving union members to decide whether to step up their campaign.
Workers at Air Radiators in Victoria, members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, walked off the job for a full day on 12 October — the third time in as many weeks they had stopped work. Under a proposed enterprise agreement, employees are pushing for both a 36-hour working week and annual pay increases of four percent. Cooling systems for data centres form part of the product range at Air Radiators, a manufacturer whose facility sits at Lara, near Geelong, and which operates under the ownership of ASX-listed Adrad Holdings. Adrad's books for the twelve months ending 30 June showed underlying earnings of $19.5 million — a 10.8 per cent lift — alongside an underlying net profit of $7.9 million, which climbed 9.7 per cent over the same period.
On 12 October, nursing staff at Hobart's Repatriation Centre — members of the Health and Community Services Union — stopped work and gathered outside the facility in a collective demonstration. Workplace demands put forward by nurses and midwives span four areas: pay rises, expanded annual leave entitlements, a legislated ceiling on patient-to-nurse ratios, and enforceable safeguards against violence and aggression directed at staff. Six months into the negotiation period, no formal proposal from the state government has been placed on the table.
On 13 October, members of Professionals Australia employed at the Australian Energy Market Operator moved to an open-ended work ban covering both the authorisation of non-critical outages and the rollout of software upgrades. Among the demands put forward by employees are pay rises that track the cost of living, safeguards against the spread of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and a shift to a four-day working week.
Formal notices of escalating bans were lodged by the Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA) with 43 public health employers across the state. NDIS referrals, elective surgery data, and associated coding all fall within the scope of what they handle. Three rounds of 24-hour stoppages have already been carried out by a workforce spanning radiographers, physiotherapists, podiatrists, pharmacists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and allied health professionals. A 36.18 percent wage increase spread across three years is what employees have put on the table as their formal position.
Workers represented by the Australian Services Union at Merri-bek City Council walked off the job at the Hadfield depot from 5 a.m. on 14 October, with the stoppage scheduled to run across two days. Coburg Town Hall became the assembly point on 15 October, when every ASU council delegate stopped work for the day and turned out together on the street outside. A 2.75 per cent nominal pay increase, backdated to July and taking effect from 1 January 2027, forms the core of the proposal put forward by administrators across the eight councils involved in the dispute. A wage increase of 22 percent across four years forms the core of the union's proposal, with 10 percent of that total front-loaded into the opening year.
Roughly 400 Transport Workers Union members working as security screeners for Certis walked off the job at both the domestic and international terminals of Sydney Airport during two separate windows — from 6 a.m. until 10 a.m., then again between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Industrial action got under way after negotiations between the two sides broke down, with employees pushing for a greater share of permanent positions, more equitable shift scheduling, and protection of their guaranteed minimum hours. The Transport Workers Union alleges that Certis intends to reduce guaranteed weekly hours by six, while Certis has indicated a new proposal was put forward on 15 October, though the details of that offer have not been made public.