People's Democracy

Newspaper Employees Court Arrest

IN an impressive show of strength and solidarity, newspaper and news agency employees in the capital held a massive demonstration on October 29 demanding immediate reinstatement of the 362 dismissed employees of the Hindustan Times, early payment of long-pending dues of Patriot-Link workers and constitution of a new wage board.

The demonstration was jointly organised by the Delhi Union of Journalists 0(DUJ) and the Delhi State Newspapers Employees Federation (DSNEF).

The employees assembled in front of  the Hindustan Times office and then proceeded towards Shram Shakti Bhavan. On being stopped by the police, the employees broke the cordon near Janpath and courted arrest. The employees were detained at the Parliament Street police station, where they were addressed by DUJ president S K Pande, DSNEF president S N Sinha, IJU president Suresh Akhouri, AINEF Treasurer Madan Lal Talwar, DSNEF general secretary Roopchand,  office-bearers of the PTI and UNI workers unions, Statesman Employees Union, Patriot Link Workers Union president Rajkumar, and leaders from Tribune and Indian Express Union (Chandigarh) and Indian Express Employees Union general secretary C S Naidu.

Later, a delegation of DUJ, DSNEF, IJU, AINEF, Tribune and Indian Express Employees Union (Chandigarh), Hindustan Times Employees Union, Bennet & Coleman Employees Union, Patriot Link Workers Union and PTI and UNI Employees Union submitted a memorandum to the union labour ministry seeking  early action on the above-mentioned  demands.   

The leadership stressed that the first salvo has been fired in  intensification of the battle for realisation of the newspaper employees’ genuine demands.  (INN)