CONGRATULATIONS!!!! WE FINALLY WON THE WAGE BOARD BATTLE !!! This is a Red Letter Day. The Supreme Court finally announced this morning its verdict dismissing the case that newspaper owners had collectively filed in the Supreme Court to deny working journalists and other newspaper employees the legitimate dues announced by the Majithia Wage Board.
The Court has ruled that the wages awarded by Justice Majithia must be paid from Nov. 11, 2011, the date on which the Award was notified by the central government. Its recommendations are to be implemented from April 2014 and arrears paid in four installments within a year.
Some details of the Supreme Court order are enclosed in the attachment. The Order will be sent to you later.
This is a blow to the employers who succeeded in delaying but not denying justice to us. We thank the lawyers who represented the various trade union bodies in the legal battle that they won for us, chief among them Sr. Advocate Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Advocate Thampan Thomas, Advocate B.K.Pal, Advocate N.M.Varghese and Advocate Parmanand Pandey as well as their legal team. They boldly faced the formidable challenge posed by an array of top, highly paid lawyers employed by the managements. The employers had challenged the Working Journalists Act itself and had it been struck down there would have been anarchy in the newspaper business.
We acknowledge the round-the-clock work put in by M.S. Yadav, General Secretary of the Confederation of Newspaper & Newsagency Employees. We thank the employees’ representatives on the Wage Board, particularly Suresh Akhouri, Vikram Rao, Dr.N. Trikha and the Confederation Gen. Secretary who forged a joint front to fight our cause.
We also recognize the efforts of so many among us who provided facts, figures and data to buttress our case and also pre-empted machinations to kill the Wage Board mid-way by turning it into a tribunal. We congratulate the numerous state and national level unions who battled over the years for the Wage Board and call upon them to boldly lead the struggle for implementation.
Finally, we call upon all employers to gracefully accept the verdict and honour the orders of the highest court of the land by swiftly implementing the Wage Board Award. The DUJ has led this struggle from the start and will continue its efforts. With your support we shall now strategise to ensure speedy implementation. We welcome your suggestions in this regard,
Sujata Madhok
President
S.K.Pande
General Secretary
Amit Prakash Singh
Treasurer
