Hundreds of scribes of newspapers and news agencies from across the country on Thursday staged a march here to protest the “delay” in notification of recommendations of the Wage Boards for journalists and non-journalists.
Parliamentarians from different parties joined the agitating employees of media organisations in the march organised by the Confederation of Newspapers and News Agencies Employees Organisations (CNNAEO).
Addressing the rally, Confederation's general secretary M.S. Yadav said: “Despite timely submission of the Majithia wage boards report on December 31, 2010, the government is deliberately delaying the notification.”
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He attributed this delay to apparent “pressure” from owners of the media houses.
The CNNAEO general secretary said the delay in notifying the recommendations of the journalists and non-journalists wage boards was leading to intensification of the agitation as employees of newspapers and news agencies were suffering from spiralling prices.
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He said that if the government did not immediately give approval to the recommendations, the employees would be forced to make it an issue in the coming assembly elections.
Traffic hit
The protest march started from the UNI office and ended at the Labour Ministry buildings where senior leaders of the Confederation addressed the gathering. Vehicular traffic was affected on the busy Rafi Marg for over three hours due to the stir.
Similar protests were organised in different States. In Mumbai, members of the Press Trust of India Workers' Union (Western Region) staged a demonstration demanding immediate implementation of the recommendations.