Aggrieved
journalists will have to petition their state governments to get things done.
A much-awaited judgment of the Supreme Court of India on a bunch of 83 petitions relating to non-implementation of the Majithia Wage Board Award for newspaper employees has received mixed responses. The court, in its latest judgment, exonerated the newspaper managements of the charge of contempt for failing to implement an earlier Supreme Court order from February 2014 asking managements to implement the award. It gave the managements one more opportunity to implement the award while issuing certain clarifications.
“I am really
disappointed,” Parmanand Pandey, a Supreme Court advocate who fought the case
on behalf of newspaper employees, said in a telephonic interview. The judgment
has not brought any significant relief to the employees, he said. The judgment,
he added, “has simply reiterated what has already been said in the original
judgment of February 7, 2014”.
The court took the
view that the non-implementation or partial implementation of the award by
newspaper managements stemmed from misunderstanding. “At best, the default
alleged has taken place on account of a wrong understanding of the award as
upheld by this court,” it said. It went on to add that, “The default alleged
though is unmistakably evident to us, in the absence of any wilful or deliberate
intention to commit the same cannot make any of the newspaper establishments
liable for contempt. On the other hand, they are entitled to one more
opportunity to implement the award in its proper spirit and effect in the light
of what we now propose to say.”
The gist of what
it went on to say is that the award has to be implemented in full, that it
relates to all newspaper employees, and that contractual employees are also
covered by it. These clarifications have been welcomed by journalist unions.
The award will have to be implemented by all newspapers and mere financial
difficulties are not an excuse. “So far as the concept of heavy cash losses is
concerned, we are of the view that the very expression itself indicates that
the same is different from mere financial difficulties and such losses apart
from the extent of being crippling in nature must be consistent over the period
of time stipulated in the award. This is a question of fact that has to be
determined from case to case,” the court said.
It directed that
all complaints of non-implementation of the Majithia Wage Board Award should be
dealt with “in terms of the mechanism provided under Section 17 of the Act.”
“It would be more
appropriate to resolve such complaints and grievances by resort to the
enforcement and remedial machinery provided under the Act rather than by any
future approaches to the courts in exercise of the contempt jurisdiction of the
courts or otherwise,” it said.
It also provided
no relief to petitioners who had complained of arbitrary transfers and
dismissals for demanding implementation of the award.
“The court has
fully glossed over the pathetic plight of those employees who had been
dismissed or transferred to faraway places, whose only fault was that they had
prayed for the implementation of the award. This amounted to aggravating the
contempt of court but the honourable court has simply ignored it causing
further depression among the employees,” Pandey said. He estimates that
somewhere between 300 and 400 employees were thrown out of their jobs for
seeking implementation of the award.
Employees, who
have been denied the wages due to them under the award, now have to approach
the office of the Labour Commissioner with individual petitions for claims,
along with calculations of amounts due to them. They can do so in groups so
that their individual petitions are bunched together. These claims will then be
examined. Where the claims are disputed by managements - which is likely in all
cases - there will be hearings. Eventually, the labour court will give a
decision. However, that does not mean the employee will get his or her money.
The court may issue a “recovery certificate” but the actual recovery of the
money itself might take yet another battle.
One group of
newspaper employees in Uttar Pradesh has already experienced this at first
hand. This group of employees from Hindustan, the Hindi publication of the
Hindustan Times group, sought benefits under the Majithia Wage Board Award in
September last year. The group initially comprised employees from both
Hindustan and Hindustan Times, but the ones from HT were persuaded to withdraw
their claims, according to one of the employees involved in the case who
declined to be identified. Five of their colleagues from Hindustan also backed
out under pressure. The remaining ones refused to do so and were sacked in the
next couple of months. They, however, pressed on with their claim to the labour
commissioner. Dates were repeatedly set for hearings and the process dragged on
until March this year when they finally obtained Recovery Certificates in their
favour entitling them to receive their claims. However, the company has since
claimed its side was not heard, and fresh dates for hearings are now being set.
Since there is no
deadline for this process, it is possible that matters would drag on
indefinitely. Pandey estimates that the time from start to end would be 3-4
years. The pace of the process would depend on which way governments both in
the state and at the Centre lean.
The process in its
entirety has already taken about 10 years. The wage boards for revision of
wages were constituted in May 2007. They submitted their recommendations in
2010. At that point, the ABP Group challenged the constitution of the wage
boards in court. The Union Government accepted the wage board recommendations
in 2011. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the employees in 2014. However,
many or most employees did not receive the benefits that were due to them, and
83 petitions alleging non-implementation and partial implementation were filed
from various parts of the country, on which the SC has now passed judgement.
Journalists in
many publications, especially in Hindi and regional language media – some of
which make sizeable profits – are paid less than the Rs 25,000 Central
government drivers earn at entry level. They also have no job security,
pension, or other benefits. It is commonplace for employees who suffer heart
attacks, strokes, accidents or other serious medical ailments to be fired
because the newspaper managements do not want to keep them on the payrolls even
on leave without pay.
The employees have
again been left high and dry to fend for themselves, according to Pandey. “This
judgment will further embolden the owners of newspapers to start the cycle of
repression, harassment, victimisation and exploitation of the employees,” he
said.
Employees have been
left with no recourse except to band together at the state level in each state,
and petition their respective state governments.
The author can be
contacted at samrat.choudhury@gmail.com.
[source: /www.newslaundry.com]
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