New Delhi, 31 Jan. Friends, Major Victory for Assam Union of Working Journalists. We are glad to inform you that the Assam Union of Working Journalists has achieved a major victory in the Gauhati High Court in case No. WP (C) 1274/2018 titled ‘Janasadharan Printing and Publishers (P) Ltd and Anr versus Jansadharan Newspaper Employees Union’, the High Court has asked the management to deposit Rs. 25 lakhs in the office of the Labour Commissioner within a period of four weeks to be disbursed among the employees. The High Court also directed Respondent No 1 i.e., State Government represented through the Labour Commissioner to make reference within 15 days from the date of passing of the instant order to Labour Court, which will dispose of the case (with regard to the amount) within four months.
The role and cooperation of the Jansadharan Newspaper Employees Union leader Mrinal Kanti Misra, AUWJ leaders- Keshab Kalita and Tutomani Phukan and Advocate S Borthakur need to be specially mentioned in achieving this laudable victory. The IFWJ Secretary-General Parmanand Pandey had also discussed this case in detail with Advocate Borthakur at Guwahati before filing the case. IFWJ Secretary-General Parmanand Pandey also met the Labour Commissioner to ensure that the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Boards are implemented across the state.
Press Clubs Reduced to Taverns, Need to be Better Utilised
Press Clubs throughout the country have failed the journalists. They have hardly stood by the journalists in their struggles against exploitative management. As and when any support is sought from them, their office-bearers wring their hands in the air by saying that they keep away from the trade union matters. In many states, these clubs have only become gossip centres and pubs. In many states, the Press Clubs generate good incomes for some office-bearers. They are mostly housed in government buildings. This is the reason that some vested interests make all efforts to grab them.
The recent case is that of the Kashmir Press Club at Srinagar. There has been a tussle between the two rival groups to get possession of the Kashmir Press Club. So much so, the rivalry posed the law-and-order problems. Ultimately, the government had to intervene, which is an undesirable situation. Siding with one group will be unfair and that is the reason, we have requested both groups to amicably resolve the issue among themselves and keep the government away from the tussle. The government will also do well by not meddling in the inter-rivalry of journalist groups. At the same time, the Press Clubs will have to formulate a policy to come forward to help the journalists in the hours of their needs.
Sham Unions Floated by Managements
Floating fake unions to defeat the genuine demands of the workers is an old technique of management. This has been done by the management of the Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Anand Bazar Patrika and many others. This time this mischief is being done by the Amar Ujala management. This was the main weapon of the late Lala Ramnath Goenka, who was adept at nurturing the fake unions and dividing the workers. It may sound strange, but it is a fact that some journalists used to be the worst fawns of Lala ji and were to do anything to betray their colleagues. Not long ago, when the case of the Majithia Wage Board was being fought in the Supreme Court, the Times of India management sprung a surprise in the court by presenting an application for the withdrawal of the case by their pocket union. IFWJ requests all its members to be on guard from these spurious unions to effectively safeguard the interest of the working class.
Need for the Corpus to Help Needy Journalists
Pandemic Covid has caused immense hardships for journalists. Many of our friends have left us to their heavenly abodes and a number of them have been rendered jobless. Many of them have been forced to live in abject penury and poverty. This was the reason in the last meeting of the IFWJ, our leaders- Hemant Tiwari, Siddharth Kalhans, Kappara Prasad Rao suggested creating a corpus to help the needy journalists. It got instant support from our President BV Mallikarjunaih, Secretary South K Asadullah and many others. It is requested to all the State Units come forward with some concrete suggestions and cooperation to form the Corpus.
Parmanand Pandey
Secretary General: IFWJ
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