ITV

Tag: protest

  • TV blackout hits Karnataka as MSOs protest ‘double taxation’

    BANGALORE: Karnataka’s Multi System Operators (MSOs), switched off cable television signals today from 5 pm in protest against what they term as the “arbitrary demand of double taxation by the government”, resulting in television blackout across the state.

    MSOs said they had been served with “final assessment notice” by the Commercial Taxes Department (CTD) to pay entire tax liability since the year 2002 within a week’s time.

    “This is practically next to impossible as MSOs have not collected the tax from the cable operators. The cable operators have been paying the department directly,” states an official release made available to the media this evening.

    Meanwhile, a state government official indiantelevision.com contacted decried the MSOs’ move to effect a blackout. “Why have they taken this drastic action instead of contacting the finance department? As per my knowledge, the discussions between MSOs and the finance mister are still on,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Sindhia was unavailable for comment.

    The media statement, signed by prominent MSOs such as Siti Cable, Hathway, Atria Convergence Technology, ICE Network and the state’s cable TV body the Karnataka Cable TV Chamber of Commerce, says the strike is more so required because the the CTD has been very aggressive in terms of seizing the bank accounts of one of the city’s MSOs which has virtually stopped its entire business operations.

    The MSOs’ argument is that the government seems to have ignored the various memos submitted to the state finance minister PGR Sindhia and the CTD with suggestions to avoid double taxation which has jeopardised the business operations of MSOs who have already incurred huge losses due to pay channel commitments.

  • Reuters employees in the US steps up protest action against management

    MUMBAI: Reuters US’ employees who are represented by the Newspaper Guild of New York have launched a strict work-to-rule campaign and a five-day national byline strike on Friday. This action comes as a round of negotiations begin today to reach a contract after nearly three years of talks. The effort to get an acceptable pact has mobilised Guild members in the editorial, technical and administration departments into a show of support for the Guild’s bargaining committee, which is scheduled to resume stalled contract talks today with the management of Reuters America.

    Guild members are holding lunch time demonstrations at Reuters offices in
    several cities, including the company’s North American headquarters in Times Square New York. They sport their traditional red t-shirts and perform only required work tasks. The Guild already has tentatively agreed to some reductions in health care coverage. It is also battling what it calls Reuters management’s attacks on retiree medical care and on active employees’ employment security. This took place after company managers sent US based reporting and picture-editing work offshore to low-wage countries.

    New York Guild president Barry Lipton said, “It is particularly meaningful that in this time of big news stories our editorial members are withholding their bylines and credits in a show of support. These actions should send management the message that this is not a time of business as usual. Our members are demanding a fair contract.”

    The Guild and its parent union, the Communications Workers of America
    (CWA) have placed an advertisement in Monday’s edition of The New York Times. This calls attention to Reuters sending U.S.-based work to lower wage countries and the pitfalls of trying to cover American news from thousands of miles away. The Times’ advertisement includes an e-mail address telltom@nyguild.org, for those who want to tell Reuters CEO Tom Glocer what they think of his reckless experiment in “remote control journalism” Lipton said.

  • Reuters’ US scribes protest outsourcing to India

    Reuters’ US scribes protest outsourcing to India

    MUMBAI: The protest in the US against outsourcing is getting louder and angrier. A few days ago US employees of news organisation Reuters protested the outsourcing of editorial jobs to India.

    Their union has begun its legal challenge to the company’s attempt to cover Wall Street from Bangalore.

    The Newspaper Guild of New York’s charge is that offshoring US-based editorial jobs violates its contract with Reuters. The case will be heard before an independent arbitrator, whose decision is binding.

    The case could take months to complete. As the lawyers square off, journalists and other employees picketed Reuters US headquarters in Times Square and other US bureaus at lunchtime. Their aim was to call attention to the dispute.

    New York Guild president Barry Lipton says, “Instead of focusing on producing the highest quality news, Reuters is now focussed on producing the cheapest news. This change is not just bad for our members, it’s bad for Reuters and its clients.”

    The Guild states that it had alerted Reuters managers last August that the exportation of jobs violated their contract. However, the London-based news and information company went ahead with its plans to expand its Bangalore-based editorial staff that was set up to write about American companies and other selected US financial news.

    Lipton adds, “This is remote-control journalism, with low-paid reporters in India writing US news to US editors. It produces a cheaper product but adds no value to stories with reporting at the source.” Although no Guild-covered employees have lost jobs to offshore outsourcing to date, that could change in a few weeks with the Reuters’ plans to move other US-based editorial jobs to Canada and Singapore.

    The exportation of New York-based reporting jobs to Bangalore comes just a few years after Reuters built its Times Square office tower and received millions of dollars in tax breaks by agreeing to retain and increase jobs in the city. The Guild and Reuters have been in contract negotiations for more than two years, with management seeking to slash healthcare coverage, retirement benefits and job security.

    Reuters reporters in Bangalore are mostly responsible for extracting basic financial information from company news releases and quarterly earnings reports. Tasks like interviewing a company president, talking to analysts and covering breaking news, will continue to be done by more experienced journalists working in the countries where those companies operate.

  • Cable TV operators go on two day strike to protest against entertainment tax

    Cable TV operators go on two day strike to protest against entertainment tax

    Cable TV operators in the metro city of Mumbai are on a two day strike to protest against a hike of 100 per cent in the Entertainment Tax levied by the government.

    This move by the cable operators was after they failed to constitutionally bar the Government of Maharashtra from increasing the entertainment tax levied on them. The cable operators had earlier petitioned in the Bombay High Court that the Maharashtra government which had promulgated the tax through an ordinance and later legislated it trough the state legislature was unfair to them as the tax on entertainment should be charged on TV set owners and that they were only being made the government collection agents.

    The government is charging the cable operators per TV set at the rate of Rs 30 in municipal limits and cantonments, Rs20 in all ‘A’ and ‘B’ class municipal councils and Rs 10 in other areas, an increase of 100 per cent from the earlier rates of Rs 15, Rs 10 and Rs 5. However the High Court citing past Supreme Court judgements said that the state legislature had legislative competence to enact the duty as entertainment was a taxable event. The court also dismissed the cable operator’s petition saying that all businesses are subject to taxation and Cable TV operators are no exception.