New Delhi: Leading media trade unions and other journalists’ organisations have warned against the proposed labour codes on the occasion of Indian Newspaper Day, here today. These Unions claimed that these labour codes would demolish the Working Journalists Acts and our basic rights.
“We demand fair working conditions and decent wages,” the Press Club of India, the National Alliance of Journalists, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, the Press Association, the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists’ Federation, and the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists, stated in a joint statement.
The Indian media and the print media in particular have come a long way since 1780 when Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, (eponymously named after Augustus Hicky), the first Indian newspaper came into existence. The Gazette extolled the importance of the freedom of the press and was deeply critical of the then Governor General, Warren Hastings.
“Today, newspapers and the print media face similar challenges related to unfair working conditions and labour practices apart from the attacks on the freedom of the press,” the joint statement said. These organisations called for a review of the “deteriorating status” of the print and other media today.
The Indian Newspaper Day is an occasion to reflect on the collective achievements of the Indian press, especially that of the working journalists and press workers over the years. Despite epochal developments like the constitution of the first National Press Commission that led to the enactment of the Working Journalists’ Act, 1955 and the Press Council, in recent years, the press as a whole has seen several setbacks in the form of arbitrary lay-offs, unfair labour practices and deteriorating working conditions. Bodies like the Press Council have been rendered redundant over the years.
“The press, just as it was censored during the British Raj under one pretext or the other, faces similar pressures. Additionally, its corporatization poses a severe threat to the rights of journalists and to the nature of journalism itself,” the joint statement claimed.
It mentioned that despite the advancement in technology in the media, journalists and press workers work way beyond the hours stipulated under the Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Rules. They are expected to be on call at all hours of the day and work simultaneously on the print, digital and electronic space – all within the same pay package. Even though the Act excludes editors, reporters, photojournalists and camera persons from ‘shift’ duties, some prominent media groups have introduced the biometric pattern of attendance, making the physical presence of correspondents mandatory in the office for a specified number of hours.
“We reiterate the demand that the Working Journalists’ Act be restored in its original form and extended to cover the electronic and digital media as well. It cannot be subsumed under the Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code. Journalism is not like any other occupation. The social role that the media performs in strengthening and upholding democracy cannot be understated. It needs to be treated differently and the rights of journalists need to be protected at all times.,” Sujata Madhok, president of the Delhi Union of Journalists stated. The media trade unions also demanded the constitution of an independent and statutory Media Commission to look into working conditions of and harassment of journalists by state and non-state actors. “In this context, we also reiterate the demand for the long pending constitution of the Wage Board,” Madhok said.
– global bihari bureau
