Newspaper and news agency employees from various parts of the country on Tuesday marched to Parliament demanding a new wage board and a ban on FDI in the print media.
The employees, under the banner of Confederation of Newspaper and News Agency Employees Organisations, marched carrying banners and placards and shouting slogans. They were stopped at the Parliament Street Police Station.
Leaders of the All-India Newspaper Employees Federation, National Union of Journalists (India), Indian Journalists Union, Federation of PTI Employees Unions and UNI Workers Union – the five national trade unions who are the constituents of the newly-formed Confederation – also sought reinstatement of the 362 employees who had been terminated by a leading newspaper.
The Confederation leaders said seven years had passed since the last wage board gave its report. They said a new wage board had not been set up despite assurances. The Confederation leaders also objected to the contract system in the newspaper industry, saying that it had put the employees "under undue pressure." Confederation president Madan Phadnis, HT Employees Union leader S N Sinha, IJU president Suresh Akhouri, Indian Express Union leader M L Talwar, PTI Workers Union president Sunil Sehgal, UNI Workers’ Union President M L Joshi and Tribune Employees Union president Jagtar Singh Sidhu were among those who addressed the protest march.
