New Delhi, May 1. Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) has asked the working class particularly the media employees to observe the May Day as the day of reckoning and self-introspection. This day reminds us of the saga of struggles and achievements of workers in the wake of their long drawn and bloodstained fight against exploitation.
In a message to the journalist and non-journalist employees of the media the IFWJ President B.V. Mallikarjunaiah and its other office- bearers have said that the struggle of the media employees has to be scaled up and intensified because their jobs and facilities even under the existing laws are in total jeopardy. Frankly speaking, the conditions of the media persons are so pathetic that all the laws made for them appear to be redundant and of no use. Predominantly a large number of newspapers have failed to implement Majithia Awards, do not give any proper employment letter, there are no proper service conditions applicable on the employees and if they raise their voice for the compliance of the labour laws, they are dismissed, discharged or terminated from their jobs.
The IFWJ has said all labour laws including the Working Journalists Act have become meaningless especially after the robotization of the industry. Employees hardly get any immediate relief. The fight between the employers and employees has always been uneven but, at present, it has become absolutely uneven and ultimately the employees and their family members have to bear the brunt. It is regrettable that the Governments of the day do not come forward to help the employees but, on the other hand, the employers get support from them and their machinery. Corrupt officials of the labour departments openly and shamelessly support the employers
The condition of media persons in electronic or web portals is more pitiable than even the print medium because no laws apply to them. It is only the whims and fancies and the sweet wills of the owners and proprietors which is applicable for the employees of the electronic and digital media. The employees do not have any protection of any law which can give them any relief.
The IFWJ has regretted that despite all tall talks, the media employees have been left in the lurch. Recently it has been found that many media persons have taken recourse to suicides because they have been deprived of all wherewithal’s. The education of their children has been cut short. Some of the media persons have been trapped in deep debts and many decease. Sadly, all pleas and requests to the governments have fallen on their deaf ears. So much so, that even the so-called top trade unions of the country have failed to come up to the expectations of the workers.
It must be mentioned here that for a quite long time the IFWJ has been asking the many central trade-unions to come together and wage a concerted fight against the exploitative labour laws, which have been further accentuated by the retrogressive judgements of the Supreme Court, more particularly by the constitution bench judgement of Uma Devi vs Secretary, State of Karnataka, which has rendered lakhs of employees jobless throughout the country.
Therefore, the May-Day is, in fact, not a day of celebration for the workers but a day of resolution for chalking out the strategies for struggles to get the rights of the workers a place of pride.
Parmanand Pandey
Secretary-General, IFWJ
In a message to the journalist and non-journalist employees of the media the IFWJ President B.V. Mallikarjunaiah and its other office- bearers have said that the struggle of the media employees has to be scaled up and intensified because their jobs and facilities even under the existing laws are in total jeopardy. Frankly speaking, the conditions of the media persons are so pathetic that all the laws made for them appear to be redundant and of no use. Predominantly a large number of newspapers have failed to implement Majithia Awards, do not give any proper employment letter, there are no proper service conditions applicable on the employees and if they raise their voice for the compliance of the labour laws, they are dismissed, discharged or terminated from their jobs.
The IFWJ has said all labour laws including the Working Journalists Act have become meaningless especially after the robotization of the industry. Employees hardly get any immediate relief. The fight between the employers and employees has always been uneven but, at present, it has become absolutely uneven and ultimately the employees and their family members have to bear the brunt. It is regrettable that the Governments of the day do not come forward to help the employees but, on the other hand, the employers get support from them and their machinery. Corrupt officials of the labour departments openly and shamelessly support the employers
The condition of media persons in electronic or web portals is more pitiable than even the print medium because no laws apply to them. It is only the whims and fancies and the sweet wills of the owners and proprietors which is applicable for the employees of the electronic and digital media. The employees do not have any protection of any law which can give them any relief.
The IFWJ has regretted that despite all tall talks, the media employees have been left in the lurch. Recently it has been found that many media persons have taken recourse to suicides because they have been deprived of all wherewithal’s. The education of their children has been cut short. Some of the media persons have been trapped in deep debts and many decease. Sadly, all pleas and requests to the governments have fallen on their deaf ears. So much so, that even the so-called top trade unions of the country have failed to come up to the expectations of the workers.
It must be mentioned here that for a quite long time the IFWJ has been asking the many central trade-unions to come together and wage a concerted fight against the exploitative labour laws, which have been further accentuated by the retrogressive judgements of the Supreme Court, more particularly by the constitution bench judgement of Uma Devi vs Secretary, State of Karnataka, which has rendered lakhs of employees jobless throughout the country.
Therefore, the May-Day is, in fact, not a day of celebration for the workers but a day of resolution for chalking out the strategies for struggles to get the rights of the workers a place of pride.
Parmanand Pandey
Secretary-General, IFWJ
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