People's Democracy

Scribes Hold Protest March for Wage Board

DEMANDING early notification of the Justice Majithia Wage Board recommendations, hundreds of newspaper employees, including journalist, held a rally outside the Shram Shakti Bhawan, the Labour Ministry headquarters in New Delhi, on March 16.

Those who organised the protest march included the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), Press Unity Centre (PUC), Association of Accredited News Cameramen (AANC), and the unions in various plants and news agencies.

Assembling at the Press Club of India for the rally and the march, the unions and journalists from different states also demanded Wage Board arrears from January 2008, a permanent wage fixation machinery and an end to unfair labour practices.

Other demands included pension as the third retirement benefit, an end to the contract system and justice to the victims who were working in Hindustan Times and The Indian Express. A memorandum was presented to the Labour Ministry seeking early action on the demands, failing which it was decided to intensify the struggle.

Meanwhile, the PTI employees union, which participated in the rally, informed that an emergency meeting of the Confederation of Newspaper and News Agencies Employees Organisations had been convened on the next day to chalk out a further course of action.