Wage Board

PRESENTATION BEFORE KURUP WAGE BOARD

The struggle for better working conditions for working journalists was part of its very existence everyday. The NUJ(I), though kept out of the Palekar Wage Board by a conspiracy of some people in power, consistently supported the work of the Board. The Government did not enforce the Board's recommendation for an interim relief. Taking advantage of the general elections in March 1977, the NUJ(I) called upon the political parties to commit themselves to implementing the interim relief. The Janata Party responded and issued a public statement committing itself to implement it within eight days of coming to power. The NUJ (I) followed up on Janata Government's formation, urging it to notify the interim relief. The then government did.

During the Emergency, the working of the Palekar Board was suspended due to non-cooperation of the employer representatives. After the new Government came to power in March 1977, the NUJ (I) insisted on the renewal of the Board or formation of a tribunal. Accordingly, the then Government passed an act of Parliament to constitute a tribunal. NUJ (I) provided massive evidence before it and its leader Meenakshi Sundaram himself appeared before the Tribunal to argue the working journalists case. In open court, Justice Palekar acknowledged the contribution of the NUJ(I).

In 1984, the NUJ(I) called for a new wage board. Its agitation led to the Rajiv Gandhi government announcing a new wage board under Justice Bachawat in 1985 with NUJ(I) representative and one of the founders of the organization, Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram as a member. He died a year later while working on the wage board papers late at night. Mr. Arun Bagchi, who had distinguished himself in fighting for the rights of Anand Bazar Patrika workers earlier during which struggle he had almost risked his life, replaced him. Mr. Bagchi was also then the president of the NUJ(I).

In presenting the working journalists' case before the Bachawat Board, the NUJ(I) set new standards of excellence and quality. Using audio visual techniques for the first time ever before a wage board, NUJ(I) presented financial analysis of newspaper economics that stunned the newspaper managements. In fact, even the newspaper managements' representatives present at the Boards' sitting could not but applaud the NUJ(I)'s presentation. The NUJ(I) team for the wage board presentation made a deep impression. Mr. Rajendra Prabhu , who was later President of the union, led the team.

While Palekar Board brought part time employed working journalists into the net of wage security and determination, the Bachawat Board attacked the newspapers' tendency to divide their companies into different organizations in order to avoid paying the just wages. In a historic recommendation, it used the doctrine of lifting the corporate veil as suggested by the NUJ(I) to go into the motive behind these sub-divisions and ruled that all such entities would be considered as one single establishment for the purposes of wage determination. The Board also expanded the allowances to include house rent and CCA.

In both the post Palekar and post Bachawat period, the NUJ(I) demonstrated its leadership qualities to the hilt. It was NUJ(I) that approached the then Labour and Industries Minister Mr.. Narayan Dutt Tiwari to get an ordinance issued to amend the Working Journalists Act to stop the retrenchment of journalists employed part time that newspapers were resorting to in the wake of the Tribunal's recommendations covering part timers.

In the case of Bachawat Board, the NUJ(I) took the initiative to convene all unions meeting to get the amendments to the Working Journalists Act suggested by the Bachawat Board passed through a stalled Parliament. The meeting of NUJ(I) activists with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi led to the constitution of a committee to reexamine some of the recommendations of the Board and substantially improve them. At all important meetings of Government functionaries since then NUJ(I) representatives did not fail to raise the issue of proper implementation of the recommendations thereby projecting the issue on the public scene.
The constitution of the next wage board under Justice Raj Kumar Manisana Singh came five years after the Bachawat Board gave its recommendations in 1989. The NUJ(I) was represented by Shri Arun Bagchi once again but he passed away in Delhi even as he was to meet the Union Labour Minister to expedite the formal holding of the board's first meeting. The union then nominated Shri Shyam Khosla, a veteran trade unionist who had organised the working journalists of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh and was bureau chief of Tribune, to represent it in the board. As the board went from place to place holding open hearings, it was evident that it was NUJ(I) representative who was leading the discussions. When it came to explaining the case of the working journalists before the Board also, it was NUJ(I) team that alone of all unions and employer bodies, that made the maximum impact with a three day long presentation. The union also worked with other newspaper/ news agency employees unions to coordinate the worker response to the delays and indecisions in the Board and some of the anti-employee stands that the employers were forcing the Board to take. The coordination with NUJ(I) participation in it was also useful to present the working journalists' case before the Government and Parliament. Several industrial actions were organized to oppose employer tactics to resort to court action to stall the board.

The Wage Board recommendations effective from April 1998, though an improvement over previous wage boards, fell short of working journalists expectation who had waited and waited long for a substantial increase in their wages. The NUJ(I) pursued the matter vigorously and canvassed its case with several Union Ministers including the Union Home Minister L K Advani. Despite strenuous efforts by the employers to confuse the issues, the cabinet made eight improvements in the recommendations to undo injustice to the employees.
From 2003 itself the NUJ(I) brought to the notice of the Government that the environment in which the Manisana Singh wage board recommendations were made, had undergone a rapid change and a new wage board was necessary. But successive governments were turning a deaf ear to the plea. To strengthen newspaper and news agencies workers case for a fresh wage revision and to meet common threats to them, the NUJ(I) worked with other trade union federations in the field to create a Confederation of Newspaper and Newsagencies Journalists and Non-Journalists Unions. The confederation was launched in May 2005. It soon began to collectively press for constitution of a fresh wage revision body and organized several demonstrations in favour of it in New Delhi and several state capitals. The confederation also met with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in this connection. Finally the Government has announced a decision to constitute such a wage board. The formation of the confederation effectively counter balanced the efforts of the newspaper employers to prevent constitution of a fresh wage revision body. NUJ(I) has played an effective role to harmonize the interests of different trade unions in the Press and work for common goals. The confederation members are: All India Newspaper Employees Federation, Indian Journalists Union, PTI Employees Federation and UNI Workers Union.