9th wage board for journalists should be realistic

Equality and balance is a universal policy, but the Newspapers Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) considers it was not reflected in the recently declared 9th wage board gazette. The journalists' organisations, however, stated that the NOAB statement was unacceptable. A case is under trial over this with the Supreme Court. The state is yet to answer in response to the rule issued by the High Court. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had fixed a date for hearing on the petition on 20 October.

As per the government rules of business wage board activities are to be conducted by the labour ministry, but this was not followed. There's no clear answer also as to why the information ministry has been conducting this.

We think there's still time to reach a more reasonable and reconciliatory conclusion over this. There are ways to turn the wage board meaningful and realistic. If the parties concerned participate in the hearing procedure, the goal can be achieved too.

The independence of the newspapers is connected with the fixing of the wage. Both the owner and worker have equal interest in securing the newspaper industry. In this backdrop, a sincere initiative is required to reach a 'win-win' situation. This should be assessed what are the immediate and far reaching impact if a decision is forcefully implemented.

NOAB and journalist organisations urged to secure the interest of the newspaper industry. The journalists, workers and employees serve the institution as if it was their own, according to the journalists' organisations. NOAB said it was not against the wage board either, for which it participated in the wage board activities despite having several objections. NOAB only asked to make the wage board realistic both for journalists and the owners.

NOAB said privileges in the newspaper industry should be consistent with the government pay scale and other local industries. It added that among the government recognised 42 industries, pay scale of 38 industries were not even nearer to the 8th wage board. The journalists, however, argued that the nature and risks associated with journalism are different from that of other industries. Despite such arguments of both parties, the wage boards actually remained on the paper. The state never took initiative to scrutinise the implementation and transparency of the wage boards.

Wages and privileges in the two previous wage boards were not fully implemented. NOAB said, 'though it was hard but a number of newspapers' were proactive to implement the wage board. The situation is different despite limitations and inconsistencies. There has been unprecedented impact of the online media on print media.

Though the special provision of income tax and gratuity have been synchronised with the existing labour and income tax law, newspaper industry is undergoing a hard time. Circulation and advertisement of every newspaper are on the ebb. The government also did not increase the rate of advertisement reasonably. It also does not generally pay the huge amount of bills in time while VAT and tax too have been increased in this industry.

If the print media journalists are to be provided with special protection then the state must fulfill its role too. Despite pledges on part of the concerned government quarter, the rate of advertisement has not increased, payment of dues remains irregular and VAT and tax have been imposed. In such a backdrop, a one-sided gazette declaring 80 to 85 per cent increase in all scales has been published. When many newspapers of the country cannot pay its employees regularly and run on subsidy, the state cannot ignore the impact of the issues on the society and on freedom of speech.