New Delhi: Reacting strongly to the statement by the Press Trust of India management in which it had defended its decision to retrench 297 employees in order to protect the “core business of producing and disseminating news”, the Federation of PTI Employees Union has termed the retrenchments “illegal and void ab initio” and stated that it has filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court challenging the same.
‘Compensation figures are completely misleading’
In a statement on Thursday, the Federation said the amounts quoted by the management as compensation and which were stated to be in the range of “Rs 28 lakh to Rs 1.09 crore” were “completely misleading as these sums include statutory benefits such as gratuity and provident fund” as well.
It said the retrenchment compensation amounts actually ranged only from Rs 10,58,925 to Rs 28,78,800.
The Federation also objected to the management’s claim that it had offered “an attractive voluntary retirement scheme” and charged that “under the said VRS, offered in September 2017, there were 62 applicants of which 30 were rejected by PTI itself without giving any reasons.”
On the claim of the management that “no working journalists are affected”, the Federation said it should be noted that 75% of the working journalists in PTI have been appointed on individual, fixed-term contracts, which makes them vulnerable to arbitrary terminations.”
It also charged that “the PTI management has never taken any serious and concerted steps to re-skill those categories of workers who have been retrenched” even though they had “contributed their blood and sweat” in ensuring the success of the organisation.
PTI management had alluded to financial stress as a reason behind the decision
The Wire had reported how the PTI management had explained the financial expediency behind the decision when it said that “over the last two decades, several functions in news organisations have become wholly redundant” and that “this had left PTI with redundant and surplus staff at a time the media industry in general is facing tremendous strain.”
Also read: Journalists’ Unions Protest Press Trust of India’s Decision to Lay Off 297 Staffers
A not-for-profit company, the PTI had also said that after it implemented the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board for journalists and non-working journalists in 2014, it had to pay arrears amounting to Rs 105 crore by dipping into its reserves. It added that last year, PTI’s news services made an operating loss of Rs 34.1 crore.
In view of this financial situation, PTI said a Voluntary Retirement Scheme was offered to employees late last year but it was met with “limited success”. It then decided to move on with the retrenchment exercise.
Federation insists there was no question of operating losses
The Federation had countered these claims of the management stating that “PTI receives unprecedented government subsidy in the form of exemption from payment of Income Tax and allocation of government land in five states, including New Delhi, at scandalously concessional rates.” Therefore, it argued that PTI cannot “seek to compare itself with other publications/entities in the hyper-competitive media market”.
In fact, the Federation said, “PTI has a near-monopolistic position in the news agency terrain in India”.
On the issue of operating losses, the Federation insisted that “there is no question of operating losses in organisations such as PTI, which have been heavily subsidised by public money”. It said the organisation’s rental income itself amounts to over Rs 60 crore annually – “all garnered from land allotted by the government.”
Moreover, it said, the excess of income over expenditure over the last three years was Rs 85 lakh in 2015; Rs 8.42 crore in 2016 and Rs 12.39 crore in 2017.
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Incidentally, at the time of the retrenchment too, the Federation general secretary Balram Singh Dahiya had written on behalf of the employees that they “strongly protest the PTI management’s unilateral and unprovoked decision to illegally retrench 297 PTI employees all over India today”. It had also exhorted the Union Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to “step in at this juncture to stop these anti-labour and anti-media moves”.
Meanwhile, a website reported on Thursday that the Federation of PTI Employees Union has filed a case against the arbitrary retrenchment of 297 staff members in Delhi high court. It further stated that the case is listed for hearing on Friday and that senior advocate Colin Gonsalves along with advocate S.D. Thakur from Nagpur and M.J. Pandey from Mumbai would be taking up the cause of the Federation.