My Trade unionism in newspaper industry in Goa, India, Aurangabad and Pune

My Trade unionism in newspaper industry in Goa, India, Aurangabad and Pune

I have fought for implementation of the Palekar Wage award for journalists and other newspaper employees. In 1987, I had also appeared before the 11 member Bachchwat Wage Commission to argue for better pay scales and facilities for newspaper employees in the country. As General Secretary of the Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ ), I was instrumental in absorption of a large number of surplus employees post computerisation or automation in The Navhind Times, Panjim, where I worked.

When daily Gomantak, then owned by Chougules, summarily retrenched 19 surplus newspaper employees in 1987, I took up the matter with the Labour Commissioner and succeeded in giving better financial package to the retrenched workers.I have therefore very strong reasons to be appalled to see that hundreds of journalists and others are sacked, thrown to the wind, following closure of Sakal Times, Gomantak Times and many editions of several publications in Maharashtra and in the country.

When automation was introduced in Sakal Media Group in 1980s - it was then acquired from the Parulekar family by Pawar family - a large number of employees were declared surplus. These included those involved in old printing methods. Sakal Newspapers Employees Union, led by Govindrao Kshirsagar, had then stood firmly with the workers and the management trained the surplus employees in new jobs works or absorbed them in other posts.

We in The Navhind Times English daily and Marathi Navprabha publications owned by the Dempos, followed the Sakal Model when the management introduced automation in mid 1980s. Ramesh Naik, our union leader, visited Sakal Union leader Kshirsagar in Pune to secure details of the Sakal Automation Model. I was happy to see that many youngsters involved in traditional printing methods sat in airconditioned rooms to learn typesetting on computers ! Foremen thus became supervisors in the new set ups and so on. Blue collared workers became white collared workers. Most people were absorbed and there was almost no retrenchment.

But soon Gomantak in Panjim served notices to retrench 19 employees following automation in the Marathi daily. The retrenched workers were to be given as gratuity only the mandatory 15 days salary for their remaining period of their service. When the retrenched workers approached GUJ, I filed a complaint with Goa Labour Commissioner. GUJ President was then Gurudas Singbal, Goa Correspondent of The Indian Express.

When we GUJ delegation sat with Labour Commissioner for the conciliation proceedings, it turned out to be a very cordial affair. The labour commissioner was of course personally known to Singbal and other GUJ seniors including Pramod Khandeparkar, Balaji Gavanekar and Gurudas Sawal. “ What is the problem,“ Singbal broke the ice as he smilingly lit a cigarette. “ Guru, there is no problem, tell me what you want,“ prompt came the reply from the labour commissioner.

After a few more sittings, the Chougule management agreed to increase the gratuity amount substantially and the workers got almost more than double compensation. Two workers however dissented and went to the court to seek better for deal.

Journalists and others may find it now difficult to believe that in the 1980s the labour unions of newspaper employees, led by CITU leader Com S Y Kolhatkar and K. Vikram Rao were so strong that they could successfully organise a nationwide strike and bring the total newspaper industry to a total halt for day !

I remember two such strikes were organised by the Goa Union of Journalists leaders Pramod Khandeparkar, Gurudas Sawal, Balaji Gavanekar, juniors like myself and James Paes around 1985. I remember as GUJ General Secretary I leading a morcha of newspaper employees around Gomantak office in Sant Inez, demanding early implementation of Bachchawat wage commission, and shouting slogans सोडचे ना रे, सोडचे ना, जिंकल्याबिगर सोडचे ना !. Gomantak Editor Narayan Athawale, himself an activist, looked at us protesters from the gallery of his residence in Gomantak building.

I left Goa in 1988 and joined Lokmat Times in Aurangabad. The trade unionist in me was very strong and within a few months, I was elected general secretary of Aurangabad Union of Working Journalists. Soon I shot letters to all newspaper managements in the city, including Lokmat where I worked, seeking immediate implementation of the Palekar Wage Award. Till then, most newspaper managements in Aurangabad had not implemented the Working Journalist Act 1956 or the Palekar wage award recommendations.

My letter to Lokmat management was a bombshell. It prompted the management to call a workers meeting on a Saturday in October 1988 to announce that Palekar award will be implemented in the establishment. The same evening, I was relieved of my duties with total payments including gratuity for one year. Gratuity payment in fact is mandatory only if the worker serves at least for five years. I had absolutely no regret about the prompt relieving. I had already been selected as a reporter in Indian Express, Pune.

As I signed the relieving papers and collected the dues, I remember our News Editor Subhash Abooj, pleading to me to file a report on a minister s function which had covered in the afternoon. Grudgingly, I obliged. A few months later, Abooj Sir too came to Pune and was my boss for over a decade both in Indian Express Pune and Sakal Times.

Journalists in Lokmat often stared me at me in disbelief whenever I mentioned that I was instrumental in implementing Wage award in Lokmat establishment.

Till early 1990s, trade unionism and labour movement were very strong in India and elsewhere. As GUJ general Secretary, I had led over 15 member delegations of Goa journalists to Indian Federation of Working Journalists ( IFWJ ) in Puri in Odisha 1986 and later to Jammu and Kashmir in 1987. The International Organisation of Journalists ( IOJ ) those years in association with the ( IFWJ ) used to arrange diploma courses for Indian journalists in Eastern Europe ( read Communist ) countries. I myself completed a diploma course in journalism in Bulgaria and also visited Russia in 1987.

Just imagine we journalists and newspaper employees used to refer to each others in the fraternity as Comrades !!

After the fall of the USSR, trade unionism in India and all over the world almost became nonexistent. That reflected in newspaper industry as well.

As a result, all national and small newspaper organisations later ignored now wage awards, Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees Act and other regulations with connivance of the government authorities.

Sakal Media Group has now closed publications of its two English dailies, Pune based Sakal Times and Goa based Gomantak Times.

Labour unions of newspaper employees have turned totally ineffective. Pune Union of Working of Journalists and other organisations have as expected have shrugged off their responsibilities in the present labour crisis.