Validity of Seventh Wage Board Award. decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Oct. 19, 2011

Validity of Seventh Wage Board Award. decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Oct. 19, 2011

Supreme Court of Pakistan would announce its decision on Oct. 19, 2011 which was reserved on 30th  Sep. 2011 on a petition filed field by the ll Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) appeals against Sindh High Court’s (SHC) May 31 decision on the validity of Seventh Wage Board Award.

The decision would be announced in the open Court by Chief Justice of Pakistan Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

--------------------------

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has reserved its decision on the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) appeals against Sindh High Court’s (SHC) May 31 decision on the validity of Seventh Wage Board Award.

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haq stated before three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that the government was in favor of the increase in journalists’ salaries, as the court should not nullify the wage board award but also protect it.

He ensured the court that the government would implement the award. The AGP also said the representatives of newspaper employees had asked the board chairman to order 100 percent raise in the salaries, whereas the employers were ready for increase by 29 percent, meanwhile, the chairman ordered 50 percent increase in the salaries. The CJP noted that the chairman kept balance.

The counsel for APNS Hafeez Pirzada argued that his client had no right of appeal against decision of the wage board. Citing the different countries of wage board award, he pleaded that they should be allowed to file appeal against the decision in any judicial forum.

He told the court that newspaper employers were ready to implement the Seventh Wage Board Award to the extent of journalists. The CJP asked then what would be about the non-journalists.

Upon this, the CJP remarked that the court was bound to deliver judgment according to the constitution.

The counsel for non-working journalists association Shaukat Siddqui said that attitude of the media group owners towards their workers was not good and section nine of the Wage Board could not be nullified.

He further said that the media groups including Jung, Dawn, Nawa-i-Waqt, Kawish and Business Recorder covered 85 percent of the publication, although the employers were serving the nation however their attitude towards their employees was not appropriate. The employers are treating their employees like the laborers treated by the capitalists, he added.

The CJP asked him to use careful language, as all of them were respectable for us. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Pervez Shaukat told the court that the implementation of the award to the extent of journalists was not acceptable to them. They were contesting for this for last 11 years, he added. After hearing arguments of all the parties, the court reserved its decision on the matter.

Three petitions were moved against the SHC judgment by APNS, M/S Independent Newspapers Corporation (Pvt) Limited, Pakistan Heralds Publications, Nida-i-Millat (Private) Limited, Kawish Publications (Pvt) Limited, News Publication (Pvt) Limited, J & S Enterprises (Pvt) Limited, The Nation Publications (Pvt) Ltd, Ibrat (Pvt) Ltd, Emmay Zed Publications (Pvt) Limited, Zamana Group of Publications, Pir Sufaid Shah Hamdard, Aghaz Publications (Pvt) Ltd and Marvi Publications Pakistan. One of the petitioners also challenged the vires of the Newspaper Employees (Condition of Service) Act 1973 under which the wage awards are constituted.

BY: Shamsul Islam Naz

Media practitioners and their apex body, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, are struggling hard for securing implementation of the 7th Wage Board Award as from Senate of Pakistan to the National Assembly and from the superior judiciary to the wage award implementation tribunal all have failed to persuade owners to implement the award despite sky-rocketing increase in prices of commodities.

After a lapse of over 10 years, owners are still reluctant to increase wages of journalists and other staff which has put an economic burden on newspaper employees.

This has been happening despite passage of resolutions by the four provincial assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate, asking the owners to implement the award.

The award was supposed to be implemented with effect from Ist July 2000 which was duly notified in the official gazette of Government of Pakistan after it became a law and binding upon them.

The media owners have made 7th wage award a point of prestige for them and from their raw conduct, they have literally proved that no one on earth can compel them to bow before the law and Constitution. It seems that all state organs i.e. Parliament, Executive, Judiciary and their subordinate institutions are just small picas in front of the owners who have failed to enforce their writ.

No one can dare ask media owners to abide by law, pay taxes and lawful duties and to respect rule of law. Contrary to this, they put all state organs under tremendous pressure and have also hired “services of some hand-picked journalists” who are being fabulously paid with a clear-cut agenda to scandalise each and every government department and functionary in a manner that no one may dare to see eye to eye with them.

The media owners are very successful in their mission and they call for accountability of each and every pillar of the state and attached organisations.

They are shrewd enough that they raise hue and cry to malign anybody who may dare to ask them to pay lawful duties and to fulfill legal obligations. They raise bogey of "attack” on freedom of press and they start hurling threats and intimidate officials.

Very strangely the higher judiciary also feels pleased to rush to the rescue of media owners.

The media owners are very successful in their well conceived strategy which can be judged from this fact that they have not only literally made the 7th wage board award for the media persons ineffective and inoperative, but have also been successful in blocking the subsequent Wage Boards which were to be constituted after every successive five years. Till this time, the 9th Wage Board Award should have been in operation when this piece was being written.

In historical perspective, one would observe that basically the wage board has to be constituted by the federal government for the purpose of fixing rates of wages for newspaper employees in the country. The board is constituted after every 5 years. Up till now seven boards have been formed.

BACKGROUND:

There used to be no law for wages of working journalists when Pakistan came into being. The working journalists used to be paid according to discretion and sweet will of newspaper owners. The working journalists raised this issue before the constituent Assembly of Pakistan through a resolution which was tabled in November 1953. The resolution inter alia stated that “the Assembly is of the opinion that the government of Pakistan should appoint a Committee to investigate the conditions of the national press of Pakistan with particular reference to the working conditions of the journalists and report to the government”. This resolution was carried by the Assembly and inconsequence thereof the government of Pakistan constituted a Press Commission with various terms of reference, including recommendation in rates of pay and working conditions of journalists.

It may be noted that in the sixth year of the republic, the Indian Parliament passed Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellanceous Provisions Act, 1955. Under this act, the concept of the Wage Board for fixation of wages and other fringe benefits has been provided. Likewise, there is also law for constitution of the Wage Board in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries.

PRESS COMMISSION (1954)

In Sept 1954, the government set up a Press Commission, which was supposed to give recommendations concerning working conditions and salaries of working journalists. One of the terms of reference of the commission was; “to examine and make recommendation on the rates of pay and working conditions of the journalists.” Mr. Justice Khurshid Zaman, Judge of the High Court headed the Commission, while late Hameed Nizami. Altaf Hussain, Z .A. Suleri and M. A. Zuberi were among the 11 other members of the Commission.

Reconstitution of Press Commission:

Due to the professional and organizational rivalries between the two bodies the All Pakistan Newspaper Editors Conference (APNEC) and the Council of Pakistan Editors, and rival bodies of newspaper Editors, the Press Commission could not function resulting in reconstitution of the of the same on Sep 5, 1958, headed by Mr. H.B Tyabji, Chief Judge of the High Court of Sindh, Karachi.


FIRST WAGE BOARD 1960:

The Ist wage board was constituted on 30th May 1960 with Mr Justice Sajjad Ahmed Jan, Judge of the High Court of the West Pakistan as its Chairman In this board, wages were fixed for the working journalists only. Every newspaper organization was supposed to pay wages according to the rates fixed by the Board. The board gave its decision on 31st Dec. 1960 which was made operative from Ist Jan. 1961. It was made clear that “the decision of the Board would be subject to review and revision after 5 years from the date of its enforcement by an authority that might be set up by the federal government.”

Fringe benefits:

In addition to basic salaries, benefits given in the Ist Wage Board Award were Dearness allowance, Conveyance allowance, Night shift transport allowance, Outfit allowance, overtime, Wages for piecework, Apprenticeship allowance, Legal expenses, Medical relief and Gratuity.

SECOND WAGE BOARD:

When the Ist Wage Board was constituted in 1960, it was decided that the government would form the board after every 5 years, therefore 2nd wage board was due in 1965. However, it was constituted after 9 years on the 25th April 1969 instead of 1965. The 2nd wage board had 8 members, four each of working journalists and newspaper employers while Mr. Justice Sajjad Ahmed Jan was nominated its Chairman.

On the 1st April 1970 Mr. Justice A.S Farooqi resigned and in his place Mr. Justice (retd) S.M Shafi was appointed as Chairman of the Wage Board on the 5th of March 1971.

Fringe benefits:

In addition to basic salaries, Cost of living allowance, Dearness allowance, General transport allowance, Gratuity. Grant on transfer, Night transport allowance, Local traveling allowance, Outfit allowance, Uniform, Interim relief were also granted.

The board announced interim rates of wages before taking the decision of wage award, which remained in force until the decision of the board came into operation which was rejected by the PFUJ. The reason behind the rejection was that the interim relief was just for the working journalists and not for all employees newspapers. The PFUJ demanded that the interim relief should be given to all newspaper employees instead of confining it only to working journalists.

Reconstitution of the 2nd Wage Board:

On the 11th Sept 1973 the Federal government reconstituted the 2nd wage board and Mr. Justice (Retd) S.M.Shafi, was appointed its Chairman with four members, 2 each from owners and employees of the newspapers. The board announced its decision on the 8th of June 1974 and fixed new pay scale for the employees.

3rd Wage Board:

The 3rd Wage Board was constituted on the 24th Jan 1979 and Mr. Justice (Retd) Muhammad Munir Faruqee, was appointed as its Chairman alongwith eight members, four each from owners and employees. The board was reconstituted in June 1979 which announced its interim relief on the 5th August 1979. The board announced its final decision on 25th May 1980 which was made effective from 15th April 1980.
Fringe benefits:

In the 3rd wage board award, in addition to basic salaries, all employees were given benefits of General transport allowance, Local traveling allowance., Outfit allowance, Uniform, Hill allowance (for the employees posted at Quetta), House rent allowance. Besides all these benefits which were given in the Ist and 2nd wage Awards and not covered under 3rd Award were allowed to be enjoyed by the newspaper employees.


4th Wage Board:

The 4th Wage Board was constituted on 4th Oct 1984 and Mr. Justice Mian Fazle Mehmood of Lahore High Court was appointed its Chairman. The Board had 12 members, six representing the employers and six employees.

The Board announced Interim Relief on the 10th of Jan 1985 while final award was given on 28th Sept 1985 and it was made operative from 15th April 1985.

Fringe benefits:

In this award, almost the same Fringe benefits of the previous wage boards decisions were given in addition to Study and Research Allowance for journalists.

5th WAGE BOARD:

The 5th Wage Board was set up on 20th July 1989 which was reconstituted on the 20th Dec. 1989 with Mr. Justice (Retd) Agha Ali Hyder of the Sindh High Court as Chairman and 14 members equally drawn from amongst the employers and the employees. The Board granted Interim Relief on the 8th Feb 1990 while final decision was given on the 18th Dec 1990 and it was made operative from 15th of April 1990.
Fringe benefits:

According to the 5th wage board, the fringe benefits were almost the same as announced in the previous board decisions. However, rates of the same were revised and increased to some extent.

LITIGATION:

The All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) and some of its members challenged the Interim Award in the Supreme Court through a constitutional petition. However, during pendency of the petition final decision was announced by the Wage Board on the 18th of Dec 1990 which was made operative from15th of April 1990. The APNS filed an amended petition to challenge the validity of the final award but the court declared the petition as in fructuous and the amended petition was dismissed by a full bench of five judges on the 14th Dec 1993. The SC, however, ruled that the petitioners may challenge the final award before a court of competent jurisdiction as provided by law but the APNS did not opt to continue further litigation against the final award of 5th wage board.

6th WAGE BOARD:

It came into existence with Mr. Justice Zia Mehmood Mirza, a Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan as its chairman on the 23rd Oct 1994 consisting of 18 members, 9 each from the employers and the employees. Final decision was announced by the board on 23rd Oct 1994.


Fringe benefits:

In addition to the basic pay and other benefits, the 6th wage board award announced computer allowance for employees working as a computer staff.

7th WAGE BOARD:

The 7th wage board consisting of ten members five each representing the employers and employees and the Chairman Mr. Justice Raja Afrasiab Khan (Retd) Judge of the Supreme Count of Pakistan pronounced its award which was published in the official gazette on the 25th Oct 2001 and made operative with effect from Ist July 2000.

ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL PRESS TRUST:

During review of the causes of non-implementation of the Wage Board Awards and tendency among media owners and their organisation – APNS -- one would observe that in Pakistan media workers working in the defunct Progress Papers Limited, National News Publication and NPT i.c. Pakistan Times, Imroze, Morning News, Mashriq, used to be the fortress of trade unions. The workers of the PPL / NPT always played a pivotal role for forcing the successive governments for constitutions of the wage boards and implementation of the Wage Board Awards. Till the operation of the NPT which used to implement the wage board awards immediately after announcements alongwith the state owned news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, the issue of non implementation of the wage board awards always resolved as private sector media owners have to implement the same. However, after abolishment of the NPT since 1992 the issue of implementation of the wage board became a serious issue and media owners felt no moral or legal obligation in absence of their competitors. Interestingly, the PFUJ has played a forefront role for the abolishment of the NPT.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 7th WAGE BOARD:

The newspapers owners immediately challenged the validity of the 7th wage board award directly before the Supreme Court of Pakistan under Article 185 (3) of the Constitution and also questioned the vires of the Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1973, claiming that the same was discriminatory law and meant for suppression of the freedom of press and putting undue economic stress upon the media. The said petition remained pending before the S.C for about 4 years. Finally the Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by the APNS and newspaper owners declaring that the matter did not fall under the ambit of Article 185 (3) of the Continuations of the Pakistan(PLD 2004 S.C. 600) . However, the petitioners were asked to move “competent court of jurisdiction” if so desired on the same issue. Taking advantage of this observation of the apex court the media owners challenged the validity of the 7thWage Board Award once again before the Islamabad High Court, which dismissed the same in limini. However, once again the APNS and some of the owners moved yet another writ petition before the Singh High Court against the varies of the NESOCA as well as the 7th Wage Board Award and succeeded in getting restraint order without any service or knowledge to the PFUJ and affected newspaper employees. This restraint order is still operative providing leverage to media owners to escape from legal obligations of making payment of the wages and other accrual benefits of the 7th Wage Board award to their employees. Various benches of the Sindh High Court heard the case of the 7th Wage Board Award but none of them had announced the verdict. The height of injustice and atrocity with media persons can be judged from the fact that the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Aug. 2009 directed to decide the issue within 90 days but to no avail. Even, after changing of various benches a divisional bench finally concluded the proceedings on 20th Sept 2010 and reserved the judgment, which still remains reserved and there seems no fate of this reserved judgment, thus paving way for media owners to deprive their workers of benefits of the 7th Wage Board Award as case would once again be reopened as per High Court Rules since the “reserved” judgments could not be announced or in the meantime the bench would be no more functional with the same judges. These tricks were employed by the media owners with the patronage of judiciary.

The story of exploitation and money minting by media owners does not end here. On the one hand the 7thWage Board Award was never implemented by them, and on the other hand they launched a vigorous campaign by inserting hundreds of “advertisements” in newspapers on front pages, raising an alarm that “newspapers industry” would be ruined if Wage Board Award was implemented in letter and spirit.

Under the garb of such types of false propaganda, they succeeded in getting concessions in various federal taxes and drastic reduction in import duties on the import of newsprint and other printed material to the tune of billions of rupees giving an allurement that “they will extend the benefits of the 7th Wage Board Award”. However, such pledges were never honored by the newspaper owners, even after lapse of more than 10 years which clearly indicates their highhandedness.

Ironically, on the eve of every federal budget, the APNS got various privileges claiming that it would "help the fourth pillar of state in its survival" and thus they always got concessions on various levies, including import of reconditioned machinery at zero taxation on the plea that these would be installed. They also secured loans for import of second-hand printing machinery at zero mark-up rates from SMEs and state-owned financial institutions on false pretext of upgrading newspaper industry in the “national interest."

Taking countless advantages and financial benefits from the governments during the last full decade the media owners also fleeced newspapers subscribers, advertisers and all end users on various counts. For instance they reduced pages and cut the size of newspapers substantially. Not only this, rates of newspapers as well advertisements were increased almost by 200 to 300 per cent during the past ten years. Yet wages of newspaper employees were not increased.

How cruel media owners and the government are can be judged from this that although wages and other fringe benefits of government employees are increased as a “regular feature of every budget”, right from 1996 to 1997, while in the budget 2010-2011 basic wages of government employees was enhanced by 50 per cent, which shows that newspaper employees were discriminated against and were being extended step-motherly treatment.

Salaries of newspaper employees, including journalists, were earlier fixed in July 1996 under the 6th Wage Award and since then no increase had been made. The media owners had been using delaying tactics and filing cases in one court or the other to delay the implementation of the award. Likewise, from 1996-97 to-date salaries of law-enforcement agencies, armed forces, government employees and private sector have gone up by at least 400 to 500 per cent. But still the media owners were not ready to make payment of salaries as per price-hike and newspaper employees were working on the salary structure fixed in 1996 under the 6th Wage Award.

These hard facts clearly indicate that media persons were being exploited by media owners who consider that perhaps media persons do not need to take meals for themselves and their kids.

The question is whether it is possible for a media person to live without clothes, bread, shelter, medical facilities and education for their kids, and can they perform their professional assignments without job protection, life insurance, life security etc.

The miserable plight of media persons can also be observed from the sad story a journalist, Mohamed Azam, working with “Channel 5" owned by Zia Shahid of Khabrain group. Azam committed suicide on 2 Dec in Lahore. He was not paid wages for five months. On Dec. 2008, he went to the office of the Khabrain to demand his wages.

Azam pleaded his bosses that he must be paid wages as there is no food at home. He was treated badly by Imtinan Shahid, son of Zia Shahid and was asked to leave office without payment. Imtinan even made bad comments about Azam's 8 sisters. Imtinan told Azam that you have 8 sisters, ask them to work. He meant that the sisters should go for prostitution.

This made Azam very sad. As he arrived, his mother asked if he was paid, he told her that the boss has not paid him. The mother reminded him about Eid which is coming and asked him to do something for wages. He went to his room, closed the door and hanged himself with an electric wire at 2pm on Dec. 2, 2008.
Azam had 8 sisters, five of them married and three to be married. He has a brother of 9 year. Azam was the only breadwinner of the family as his father had left them long ago.

The callousness of media owners can be judged from this fact that none of the print and electronic media aired or published this gruesome incident in detail. Even it was not mentioned that the cause of his death was nonpayment of five months wages. The name of journalist Muhammad Azam was also not mentioned.

The media mentioned only that Azam committed suicide because he was facing financial difficulties. This attitude of media exposes their real anti-worker and inhuman attitude against ethics of real journalism.

There are endless and long stories of atrocities by Pakistan media owners but the disturbing question is constant silence of vocal segments of society, including lawyers, judiciary, human rights activists, political parties and the government of Pakistan. They are, of course, afraid of nuisance of Pakistani media. But one wonders that in an age of globalization even the international forces too are salient about sorrow state of affairs of Pakistani media industry, and they are hardly aware of the plight of Pakistani media workers and journalists and have confined them only to look after “economic interests” of media houses.

They do not believe in freedom of expression, and that they have a duty to keep the citizens informed which is the prime objective and social obligation of the print and electronic media. Everything printed or aired in the Pakistani media by and large is biased.

Not a single newspaper in Pakistan or electronic media, and the news agencies carries and publishes the point of view media employees and their trade unions as well as PFUJ. This hard fact ipso facto proves how much under pressure the Pakistani journalists are.

Shamsul Islam Naz