No newspaper in Guwahati for 6 days, govt bans hawkers' strike

Assam Government today directed the newspaper hawkers association to immediately withdraw their strike which left the people of Guwahati without newspapers for six days.
Exercising the power under Section 10(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the government banned the strike declared by the Sadou Guwahati Batori Kakot Hawker Santha since February 16 with immediate effect.
The move came after the dispute between the Sadou Guwahati Batori Kakot Hawker Santha and All Guwahati News Paper Agents Association, Guwahati was referred for adjudication to the Industrial Tribunal Guwahati, an official statement said here.
The Labour Commissioner's office here had on February 19 sent a report to the state government that the ongoing process of negotiation between the agents and hawkers since February 2 has failed.

The Hawkers Association extended their strike, which began on February 16, by three more days from today.
The hawkers have a five-point demand, including hiking their commission to 35 per cent of the cost of newspapers and medical benefits for the old and sick hawkers.

The Agents' Association, however, claimed the strike was uncalled for as the issue was in the state Labour Commissioner's office.
Earlier in the day, the Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) urged the Press Council of India to intervene as "the hawkers' strike has infringed people's right to get information."
The JFA also appealed to newspaper owners, agents and hawkers to settle their differences without affecting distribution of newspapers.