EPW staff writes to trustees demanding salary cuts be revoked
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On 21 June 2020, Prof. Gopal Guru, the editor of the Economic and Political weekly (EPW), in an internal email had announced salary cuts. The email reproduced here was sent by the staff of EPW on Friday, 26 June 2020 to the trustees of Sameeksha Trust. Sameeksha Trust runs EPW.
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26 June 2020
To,
The Trustees,
Sameeksha Trust
We, the staff of the Economic and Political Weekly, are writing this letter to you to convey our displeasure and disillusionment at the sudden policy decision of imposing pay cuts on the employees. This decision is being forced on the employees after we have demonstrated dedication, sincerity and productivity every week in bringing out the issues of the journal, without fail, especially during these uncertain times.
While other media houses have imposed similar pay cuts, we would like to bring to your attention two counts, among others, on which EPW is a different case.
First, despite the range and diversity of content that EPW publishes, the journal has, for long, been short-staffed. Given this, the sudden transition to an online interface from a paper-based system, has not been easy for several departments. For example, our DTP and proofreading departments, due to logistical and resource issues, have been working with less than their already deficient staff strength almost round the clock. The editorial team has also been working nearly 24X7 with the production colleagues to keep the issues afloat. Colleagues from the administrative and finance departments have put themselves at risk by working from the office to keep it functional.
Not only is the imposition of pay cuts counterproductive for the staff’s motivation, but it also undermines the fact that a majority of the staff has been working for 30 days a month, instead of the official stipulation of 22 days per month, since the lockdown was declared from 25 March 2020, without asking for or being offered any payment or overtime incentive for it.
Second, we feel that the current pay cut is not a measure triggered by COVID-19 and the lockdown scenario alone, as in the case of other publications. To us, this is a continuation of the trustees’ previous decisions of withdrawing/withholding employee benefits and incentives like annual increments, bonuses, LTA, etc. for the last two years in the name of cost-cutting to mitigate losses. The trust has never been a profit-making enterprise, but the entitlements and benefits for the staff have never been taken away in such a sustained manner in the past. Such measures, along with the decline in pay scales and hiring of new staff on a contractual basis without any benefits, has exacerbated feelings of insecurity and disadvantage.
Without any clarity for the staff on the modality of the pay cut, and the lack of a roadmap to revive from the current situation, we perceive this undemocratically adopted policy of pay cuts as the management/trustees’ lack of will to honor their statutory obligations to the employees, even in terms of the latter’s entitlement to the salary scale and employment benefits at which they were hired for the organization. While we were told that we would be provided with explanations and salary breakups by 23 June, no communication has been forthcoming as of this day.
We have several pressing questions at this juncture:
First, the corpus of ₹10.2 crore that is with the trust (as of 2018–19), is amassed from donations received for the Economic and Political Weekly. Why is this not being put to use for the employees of EPW to tide over the current crises?
Second, what steps have been taken to strengthen the corpus and to raise donations? What has been the net result of the cost-cutting measures imposed over the last two years? In this context, we would like to bring to light the suggestion of adding an online link/payment gateway such as Instamojo to our donations page — a suggestion that has been repeatedly made by the EPW editorial team during the last 3 years, and one that remains persistently unheeded by the management. We have not received any response or acknowledgement for our letter, detailing these issues among others, dated 3 March 2020 addressed to the trustees, sent through the editor.
Third, in the last three months, EPW has not gone completely income dry. Although it has been lower than in normal times, income has come in through online subscriptions and advertisement revenues, and we have also saved on operational costs due to closure of the office and printing facilities. Has there been no respite for the finances of the trust, even with these saved costs? And if not, why has management decided to publish back issues of the journal, when the livelihood of the staff is at stake? Our advertisers and subscribers are equally affected by these unprecedented times, and there is no reason to believe that they would not understand the limitations of print publications at this time, if they are brought into confidence through proactive dialogue. Has the management explored all possible remedies to fulfil legal obligations to advertisers, subscribers and the postal department?
Fourth, the staff has had no clarity on how all these cost-cutting measures, including the present pay cut, have been implemented and what their effects have been on the two organisations (EPW and EPWRF) helmed by the trust, and their permanent and contract employees. Changes have been made arbitrarily to the employment conditions and benefits as mentioned in our staff handbooks, without any consultation with the staff. Further, no employment guidelines have been drawn for contractual employees, even after one year has elapsed since the decision (also unilateral and without consensus) on all new hires being employed on contractual basis. We have also not received a response to our comments on the new draft Staff Handbook (which is still not in force) sent through the general manager on 14 January 2020 for discussion at the trustees’ subsequent meeting in that period. Further, these changes have been implemented, even without updating the handbook via due process. Why has all of this not been done?Since the management has now resorted to pay cuts, should we presume that all the previous cost-cutting policies have been inefficacious in achieving the intended results? If so, what is the promise of the current measures?
Various models/suggestions to ramp up EPW’s revenue position have been proposed by the EPW editorial team to the management, time and again over the past 3 years. It is extremely unfortunate that when these lacunae have amplified in today’s uncertain times, the trustees/management have immediately reverted what should have been a measure of last resort, by stripping away the staff’s basic entitlements, without even mutually discussing other viable alternatives. We feel this policy and the way in which it has been implemented is harsh and insensitive to the fact that many EPW employees live in rented accommodations or have to bear house loan liabilities, both of which, among other things, are exorbitantly high costs in a city like Mumbai.
In light of all of the above,we demand that the decision to impose pay cuts be revoked and a consultative process be initiated with the staff at the earliest to arrive at just and effective measures to address financial issues facing the journal. This process can begin by taking on board the various suggestions/measures that have already been proposed by the members of staff and have thus far remained unheeded by the management. We believe that practicing the principles of democracy and justice in everyday functioning is essential to remain true to the values espoused by the EPW over the years, both in its office and its pages.
Members of Staff
Economic & Political Weekly
