Following PTI’s decision to retrench 297 employees and the announcement of its compensation plan, the Federation of PTI Employees Union has claimed the compensation figures to be misleading. It has challenged the same by filing a writ petition.
The Federation disagrees with the compensation figures presented by the management and calls the exercise illegal. It has, therefore, approached the Delhi High Court for justice.
A statement from the Federation conveyed that the compensation figures shared by the management ranged between Rs 28 lakh and Rs 1.09 crore. However, these sums were completely deceptive since they included gratuity and provident fund also. The actual amounts ranged only between Rs 10,58,925 to Rs 28,78,800.
It is to be noted that the management had claimed it had offered a very fair and attractive voluntary retirement scheme too. The Federation disagrees on this too, stating that in the VRS offered in September last year, of the 62 applicants, 30 had to face rejection and had been offered no explanation by PTI for the same.
The workers’ body also stated that it was not right of the management to claim that none of the working journalists were impacted by the retrenchment because 75 per cent of the working journalists in PTI were appointed on individual, fixed-term contracts. This makes it possible for them to be terminated arbitrarily.
The Federation has accused PTI of not doing anything to ensure reskilling of the workers who had worked hard for the organisation’s growth.
PTI had decided to go in for retrenchment considering that digitisation had caused many functions and roles to be redundant. This had led to a situation of excess staff, which had drained the organisation financially.
The media organization had also had to pay huge arrears from its reserves to the workers after implementing the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board for journalists and non-working journalists in 2014.
The retrenchment exercise was a step towards controlling operating losses of Rs 34.1 crore.
Countering the reasons given by PTI to justify the retrenchment, the Federation claims that the organisation, which receives exceptional subsidy from the Government in the form of income tax exemptions and land allocations, is in a much better position than any other media organisation.
2 Comments
The employees who are retrenched are those employees who made the PTI the India’s topmost news agency from their loyalty and hard work by working in this agency from more than 25 years day and night.If they all are incompetent,then why company was tolerating them from these long years?Why the PTI didn”t retrenched them at that time?Why PTI made them permanent employee? These are some very important question which the PTI should explain if they were unfit to continue the job.PTI has also mentioned that these employees are not able to cop-up with the new modern work.If these employees have worked for these long years then they can that modern work also if they are being given proper training like in every organisation.In some news,It has also come to know that the PTI has taken this horrific act saying that they are not able to bear the salary to the employees and it has credited the due amount in respective employees.But there are several employees in PTI who have greater salary than these honest employees so why don”t PTI didn”t fire them first?And the amount which it has credited,it is not as per their terms of employement.It”s not sufficent to run their house in this dearer world.PTI has also mentioned that these employees will get gratuity and provident fund by which they will have more money in their account but every employee of this country get all this.PTI has not given any special favour to them.It”s their basic right.
All these were permanent employees who have passed these long years in PTI with their hard work.But one shameless act has staggered them.
Some employees have also taken a huge amount of loan from their permanent jobs. Now, from where they will be able to organise capital for loans and their family.It”s not possible for all these employees who are in their 50”s to take CV and roam company to company for the new job because they all have their family responsibilities.
Companies like PTI should be banned in all over the world for this kind of activity towards its loyal and hardworking employees’
The employees who are retrenched are those employees who made the PTI the India’s topmost news agency from their loyalty and hard work by working in this agency from more than 25 years day and night.If they all are incompetent,then why company was tolerating them from these long years?Why the PTI didn”t retrenched them at that time?Why PTI made them permanent employee? These are some very important question which the PTI should explain if they were unfit to continue the job.PTI has also mentioned that these employees are not able to cop-up with the new modern work.If these employees have worked for these long years then they can that modern work also if they are being given proper training like in every organisation.In some news,It has also come to know that the PTI has taken this horrific act saying that they are not able to bear the salary to the employees and it has credited the due amount in respective employees.But there are several employees in PTI who have greater salary than these honest employees so why don”t PTI didn”t fire them first?And the amount which it has credited,it is not as per their terms of employement.It”s not sufficent to run their house in this dearer world.PTI has also mentioned that these employees will get gratuity and provident fund by which they will have more money in their account but every employee of this country get all this.PTI has not given any special favour to them.It”s their basic right.
All these were permanent employees who have passed these long years in PTI with their hard work.But one shameless act has staggered them.
Some employees have also taken a huge amount of loan from their permanent jobs. Now, from where they will be able to organise capital for loans and their family.It”s not possible for all these employees who are in their 50”s to take CV and roam company to company for the new job because they all have their family responsibilities.
Companies like PTI should be banned in all over the world for this kind of activity towards its loyal and hardworking employees