lang: en
Summary
In February 1918, textile workers in Ahmedabad, India, struck for a wage increase to cope with wartime inflation and the end of plague bonuses. Led by Mohandas Gandhi and Anusuyya Sarabhai, the workers demanded a 35 percent increase and used nonviolent tactics including strikes, petitions, and a fast by Gandhi. The conflict was resolved through arbitration, with workers receiving a 35 percent wage increase, and the campaign contributed to the formation of the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association.
Background
A heavy monsoon in 1917 destroyed crops and led to a plague epidemic that killed nearly 10 percent of Ahmedabad’s population. Textile workers received ‘plague bonuses’ to stay during the outbreak, but when the epidemic subsided in January 1918, employers planned to end the bonuses, while wartime inflation had doubled prices of necessities. Workers demanded a 50 percent cost-of-living allowance, but mill owners dismissed strikers and recruited weavers from Bombay.
What happened
Workers turned to Anusuyya Sarabhai, who urged Mohandas Gandhi to intervene. [source: nv-database] Gandhi proposed an arbitration board, but mill owners refused to participate when workers struck on February 22, 1918, anticipating a lockout [source: nv-database]. The mill owners locked out workers and offered only a 20 percent wage increase; some workers accepted, but Gandhi urged firmness [source: nv-database]. After analyzing conditions, Gandhi calculated a 35 percent increase as just and economically feasible, but employers made no concessions [source: nv-database]. Workers pledged nonviolence, held daily meetings, distributed leaflets, and composed songs; mill owners issued counter-propaganda [source: nv-database]. Gandhi and leaders provided welfare activities and employed workers building a weaving school at his ashram [source: nv-database]. Sensing weakening morale, Gandhi began his first ‘fast unto death’ on March 15, 1918 [source: nv-database]. On the third day, mill owner Ambalal Sarabhai offered to meet demands if Gandhi would stay away from workers forever; Gandhi refused [source: nv-database]. Instead, he proposed arbitration by Professor Anandshanker Dhruva, which mill owners accepted on March 18, and Gandhi broke his fast [source: nv-database]. Workers returned the next day, receiving 35 percent initially, then 20 percent, then 27.5 percent until the arbitrator decided; the arbitrator ultimately awarded 35 percent, noting mill profits had doubled or tripled [source: nv-database]. The 25-day campaign adhered to Gandhi’s satyagraha principles and led to the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association, which improved working conditions and labor organization in India [source: nv-database].
Key people & organizations
- Mohandas Gandhi
- Anusuyya Sarabhai
- Shri Shankerlal Banker
- Ahmedabad Mill Owner’s Association
- Ambalal Sarabhai
- Professor Anandshanker Dhruva
- Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association
Tactics used
- boycotts-and-strikes
- nonviolent-direct-action
- civil-resistance
- coalition-building
- framing-and-narrative
- petitions-and-e-campaigning
- public-narrative
The campaign combined a sustained industry strike with public education, moral pressure through Gandhi’s fast, and alternative institutions to maintain worker solidarity, ultimately forcing the mill owners to accept arbitration. [source: nv-database]
Outcome
Verdict: won.
The workers achieved their goal of a 35 percent wage increase through arbitration, and the campaign’s success in adhering to nonviolent principles and establishing a lasting labor union contributed to long-term improvements in working conditions. [source: nv-database]
Lessons
- A well-calculated, moderate demand can be more sustainable and gain broader support.
- Combining a strike with alternative employment and welfare activities maintains morale and self-sufficiency.
- A leader’s moral fast can create powerful pressure on opponents to negotiate.
- Arbitration by a neutral party can resolve deadlocks when direct negotiation fails.
Sources
- Global Nonviolent Action Database —
[[nv-database]]
Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.
Sources & verification
nv-database— grounding: primary — license: link-only- Rewritten: 2026-06-25 via
worker_casestudies_v2.py