PTI employees on 30-hour strike

Employees of the Press Trust of India (PTI), the largest news agency in the country, went on a 30-hour countrywide strike Friday demanding implementation of the wage board notified by the government over three months ago.

"All employees of the PTI across the country are on strike -- from 2 a.m. Friday till 8 a.m. Saturday. The only demand for the striking employees is that the government implement the Justice Majithia wage board recommendations," M.S. Yadav, general secretary of the Federation of PTI Employees’ Unions, told IANS.

The 63-year-old agency with bureaux in major metros in India and abroad is witnessing a token strike by all its employees based in the country.

When contacted, the Executive Editor V.S. Chandrasekar, refused to comment, told IANS: "The right people to talk on this are the union members."

The Labour and Employment Ministry Nov 11 notified the recommendations of the Justice G.R. Majithia Wage Boards for journalists and other employees of newspapers/news agencies to increase the levels of salaries paid to all staffers.

The wage board recommended that salaries be increased, in some cases to 200 percent of prevailing rates, causing an uproar from publishers.

The notification is issued subject to the final verdict of the Supreme Court, which is hearing the petitions filed by some of the newspaper managements challenging the recommendations of the wage boards.

The wage boards, led by former Mumbai High Court Judge Justice Majithia, were constituted May 2007 and gave their reports to the central government Dec 31, 2010.