Notify wage boards recommendations immediately: PTI Federation

Chennai, Feb 5 (PTI) Federation of PTI Employees'' Unionstoday demanded that the Government immediately accept andnotifiy the recommendations of the Justice G R Majithia WageBoards for journalists and non-journalists and other newspaperemployees and cautioned against their dilution.

"The Government should immediately accept all therecommendations including the five resolutions adopted bymajority vote (by the boards). There will be a nation-wideagitation in case of any attempt to sabotage therecommendations," the Federation said at its Annual GeneralMeeting here.

The AGM, also attended by Indian Journalists Unionpresident Suresh Akhouri, passed a resolution to this effect.

Addressing the AGM, Federation General Secretary andSecretary-General of the Confederation of Newspaper and NewsAgencies Employees Organisations M S Yadav warned that "anyconspiracy hatched by vested interests on behalf of newspaperowners" would lead to a nation-wide agitation by the industryemployees.

Akhouri said all trade unions in the newspaper industrywould jointly fight "any such vested interests".

The wage boards, whose recommendations were submitted tothe government last month, had passed five resolutions forre-classification of newspapers, payment of arrears fromJanuary 8, 2008, increase in the rate of annual increment,hike in House Rent Allowance and inclusion of Chandigarh in"Class X" cities.