Wage board recommends 3 times pay hike for Indian journalists

By Subir Ghosh.
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New Delhi - The Wage Boards for working journalists and non-journalists and other newspaper employees in India have recommended 2.5 to 3 times hike in basic pay and fixing the retirement age at 65.
To be implemented retrospectively from January 8, 2008, the revised basic pay has been computed after merging the existing basic pay, the dearness allowance and the 30 per cent interim relief that had been already granted, an official statement issued by the government said.
The panels have also suggested establishment of a permanent tribunal consisting of employees and employers for grievance redressal, Justice G R Majithia, who headed the panels, said after presenting the reports to Labour and Employment Secretary Prabhat Chaturvedi.
The revised basic pay has been computed after merging the existing basic pay, the dearness allowance (DA) and the 30 per cent interim relief already granted besides 35 per cent variable pay. Taking into account the concept of grade pay introduced in the Sixth Pay Commission, the two boards also introduced a "variable pay" for all employees working in newspaper establishments and news agencies. The boards proposed a variable pay of 35 per cent. This will be implemented from July 1, 2010.
The basic pay at the entry level could be anywhere around Rs 9,000 while the basic pay drawn at the senior level could be around Rs. 25,000 in a category 1 media house.
The recommendations would be examined by the Labour Ministry before they are tabled before the Union Cabinet for approval.
The boards also recommended that the DA be paid biannually with effect from July 1 and January 1 every year and the rate of neutralisation for determining the DA would be 100 per cent of the basic pay for all groups of employees. The boards also recommended revision of house rent, transport, and night shift allowances.
They recommended that the house rent allowance be paid at the rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent of the basic pay to employees posted in areas defined as area X, Y and Z respectively. The transport allowance at the rate of 20 per cent, 10 per cent and five per cent shall be paid by newspaper establishments to its employees posted in respective areas defined as X, Y and Z respectively. The hardship allowance has been recommended at Rs 1000 for employees working in hilly areas.
The employees working in the newspaper establishment of classes I and II and classes III and IV shall be paid medical allowance at the rate of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 per month per employee respectively. But no medical allowance shall be paid to employees who are covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation.
News agencies with a revenue of over Rs 60 crore have been put in the same place as top rung newspapers following the Boards' reclassification of news papers and news agencies. Press Trust of India (PTI), therefore, has been put in the top spot with United News of India (UNI) in the second slot.
The Wage Boards were constituted three years ago for the purpose of fixing or revising rates of wages in respect of working journalists and non-journalists and other newspaper employees.
Official website: The Wage Boards

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Journalists demand notifictaion of wage board recommendations

New Delhi, Mar 6, (PTI):

Concerned over ''undue delay'' in notifying the recommendations of Justice Majithia Wage Board for working journalists, a union of journalists today demanded their immediate notification by the Centre, threatening to launch an agitation if it was not done.

The National Executive Committee of the Indian Journalists Union (IJU), which met here today, said it "strongly feels" that the central government is delaying the notification.

"The working journalists have been eagerly waiting for the wage revision which has long been due and any further delay will force them to take to agitational path to achieve their legitimate right to just wages," a statement issued by the Union said.

It also expressed concern over the Supreme Court judgement holding that any working journalist, whose services were terminated for misconduct of any type, was not entitled to gratuity under Section 5 of the Working Journalists Act.

"It demanded that the central government immediately amend the Act to plug the loophole and protect the interests of working journalists in the country," the statement said.

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.