Labour Ministry for abolition of wage boards for journalists

NEW DELHI: Labour Ministry is understood to have favoured abolition of the methodology of wage boards for the newspaper industry and suggested bilateral wage negotiations.
"We may accept the recommendations of National Commission on Labour that there is no need for any wage board, statutory or otherwise," Labour Secretary P D Shenoy said in a communication sent to the Planning Commission, adding that the issue was also briefly discussed with the Cabinet Secretariat.
However, realising the "sensitivity" of the issue, the Labour Ministry has also suggested that it should be discussed at a tripartite forum comprising journalists and newspaper organisations.
The communication assumes significance in view of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which in last week, had demanded setting up of a new Wage Board for the newspaper industry in view of "severe erosion" of the wages following grant of "poor" rate of DA recommended by the last Wage Board and price rise.
However, pointing out that no other industry in the country had such a board, except for the newspaper employees, the note said the matter should be left to be settled bilaterally between the employers and employees of newspaper establishments, as is the case with other industries.
It said the trade unions, having grown in strength, were themselves able to negotiate their wages with the management.