ISLAMABAD:
After a decade-long battle, journalists fighting for the implementation of the seventh wage board award finally emerged victorious when their right to a fair wage was endorsed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed that the wage board award be implemented in letter and spirit and dismissed the petitions filed by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and Pakistan Herald Publications. The petitioners will have to pay a penalty for the contentious litigation.
In a 75-page judgment, the chief justice has seconded that The Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1973 is within the legal domain of the constitution. Consequently, the Seventh Wage Board Award announced in 2001, will stay effective until it is modified by the board. The chief justice announced the reserved verdict in a courtroom packed with journalists. On September 29, the bench had reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from counsels for newspaper proprietors who had challenged the Sindh High Court verdict of May 31 upholding the seventh wage board award.
After 10 years of lobbying for the award, the Pakistan Federation of Union Journalists (PFUJ) has won the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2011.
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