CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

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 CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION

The term 'Wages' is used in so many diverse contexts that it is

difficult to evolve an all pervasive definition. Wages are a major source of

livelihood for a large number of employees and their dependents. Wages

also represent a cost to employers. In an economic sense wages

represent payment of compensation in return for work done. In a

sociological sense wages characterise stratification of occupational

categories. In a psychological sense wages satisfy needs directly and

indirectly, the form they take being a response to changing employee

aspirations. In a political sense wages represent the exercise of constitutionally

sanctified choice in employer-employee relationships. In a legal sense

also the term 'wages' has acquired various connotations depending on the

context having become a subject of special law in many countries. At an

aggregate level, wages become an economic variable affecting and being

affected by employment, consumption, investment, and prices and find a

place in distribution theory along with rent, interest and profit as a

component of National Income.

Wages need to be distinguished from other incomes. This can be

done by segregating contractual incomes from non-contractual incomes

and considering those contractual incomes which are payments for hired

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labour at a rate determined at the time of hiring. Such a treatment of the

concept implies that a university professor or a civil servant is as much a

wage earner as a labourer who carries bricks in the sun as long as they

both receive payments which are fixed and certain for a contractual period

irrespective of the nature of work, duration of work, quantum of payment

or the periodicity of payment for labour made available.

Wages of certain categories of employees also contain elements

analogous to rent, quasi-rent and monopoly surpluses. While these

surpluses as a part of wage are also predetermined and fixed, they are

traceable in origin to factors such as special skills, past investments on

education or monopoly conditions. Since surpluses accrue due to the

existence of choice in a competitive environment, a wage can also be

differentiated from other incomes by reference to the degree of freedom

and choices exercised by the two contracting parties the employer who

hires labour and the employee who offers his labour for an income. It is

the very existence of choice that distinguishes wage systems of the

present day from slavery, serfdom and artisanship.

1.1 Wages system in India

Wage system in India is a complex and sensitive area and

attempts by the Government to monitor it through generation of data by

creation of fact finding and recommendatory bodies together with

legislation have not yet resulted in a national wage system of

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framework. In fact it is sometimes questioned whether a national wage

system in conditions as diverse as are found in India is at all possible.

The Government convened a tripartite industrial conference in 1947. This

conference known as the Industrial Truce resolution subscribed to the view that

organised industries should be distinguished from 'sweated* industries and the

emphasis should be on minimum wages for 'sweated' industries and fair wages

for organised industries. This recommendation resulted in the Minimum Wages

Act, 1948 and a tripartite committee on fair wages was also established in 1948

'to determine the principles on which the fair wages should be based and to

suggest the lines on which these principles should be applied' (Report of the

Committee on Fair Wages, 1948). The Committee on Fair Wages conceived of

three levels of wages—minimum wage, living wage and fair wage. According to

the committee, a minimum wage must provide not merely for bare sustenance of

life but for the preservation of the efficiency of the workers and must take into

consideration some measure of education, medical requirements and amenities.

Further a living wage was to enable a worker to provide for himself and family not

merely the bare essentials of food, clothing and shelter but a measure of frugal

comfort including education for the children, protection against ill health,

requirements of essential social needs and a measure of insurance against old

age. Regarding a fair wage, the committee observed that while the lower limit of

the fair wage was to be the minimum wage, the upper limit be set by the capacity

of industry to pay depending on labour productivity, the place of the industry in

the economy, the level and distribution of national income and the prevailing

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rates of wages in the same or similar occupations in the region.

The tripartite Indian Labour Conference at its 15th Session in 1957

qualified the minimum wage concept of the Committee on Fair Wages by

enunciating the concept of need based minimum wage to guide wage

determination. This involves taking a working class family as consisting of four

adult consumption units of whom one is an earner and calculating food

requirements on the basis of a caloric intake of 2700 calories per capita as

recommended by Dr. Aykroyd, an Indian nutrition expert. Food intake is to

include 17 ounces of cereal, 10 ounces of vegetable and a few ounces of milk,

meat and sugar. Clothing requirements are to include 18 yards of cloth per capita

and housing cost is to be calculated by considering the rents charged by the

government for houses to its employees under the subsidised industrial housing

scheme for low income groups. Another 20% is to be added for light, fuel and

miscellaneous items (National Commission on Labour, 1970).

In the present wage system the minimum wages need to be fixed in

sweated industries and fair wage agreements need to be promoted in the more

organized industries. The following observations should be measured in wage

system.

> Equal pay should be ensured for equal work.

> Wage differentials should be provided.

> Remuneration should be linked to productivity.

> There should be compensation for any rise in the cost of living.

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 Fair wages should be determined over and above minimum wages with

due regard to:

> Productivity of labour

> The prevailing level of wages

> The level of national income and its distribution.

> The place of industry in the economy of the country.

The Supreme Court ruled that an employer who cannot pay minimum

wages has no right to exist. The capacity to pay becomes a subject of

consideration to determine fair wages. According to this rule the wages should be

determined on the basis of the basic needs of labour and a living wage should

be secured for daily wage workers.

1.2 Prospect wage system

While reviewing the verdicts of the Supreme Court on the different aspects of

wages, a broad classification of the components of employee remuneration

enables the views to be seen in prospect wage system. The Employee

remuneration in the case of industrial workers in India consists of:

i) Basic Wage
ii) Dearness allowance
iii) Other cash allowances/cash benefits
iv) Incentive money
v) Employee benefits in kind
vi) Social security benefits—statutory arid non-statutory
vii) Annual bonus
viii) Paid leave

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(i) Basic Wage: Basic wage in an organisation is the wage which at some

point in time when other components were not common represented the

total compensation for work done. A basic wage may refer to a fixed figure

for a job or a man which may be increased by the employer from time to

time. A basic wage may also refer to a step in a wage scale for a job.

The wage scale may be one that was introduced at a time the establishment

commenced or one that has been improved over time.

(ii) Dearness Allowance (DA): Dearness allowance is an allowance given to

employees to partly or fully compensate them for losses in real earnings

caused by increasing cost of living. The Second Pay Commission had

opposed any automatic adjustments of DA on a continuous basis appre-

hending a wage-price spiral and even the Third Pay Commission in linking

DA to the consumer price index annual average had observed that there

should be freedom to freeze dearness allowance in an exceptionally

inflationary situation or to combat national emergencies.

(iii) Cash allowances/ benefits: In addition to basic wage and dearness

allowance, several cash allowances are prevalent in different industries.

These are traceable in origin to nature of work or occupation, working

conditions including occupational hazards, the socio-technical system,

family needs and local regional considerations such as costliness,

location, etc. It is difficult to exhaustively list all the allowances prevalent in

industry. The number of allowances and quantum's is higher in organisations

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which could afford to introduce them. Apart from being taken into

consideration as a part of wage structure and for wage level comparisons,

most of the allowances are not statutorily binding. At the same time

allowances which have been in existence are not ordinarily revoked

unless it be to transform the manner of their payments through some

other benefit or nomenclature.

(iv) Monetary incentives: Both individual and group incentive schemes

are found in India. Incentive money is that component of wage which can

theoretically range from zero to a maximum allowed limit depending on

performance criteria such as production or productivity or attendance or

sometimes all three. The existence of incentives can also be linked to the

additional time spent at work over the normal time and overtime

payments are also a popular form of incentive especially for non-

manufacturing employees.

(v) Employee Benefits: Employee benefits are an accepted form of

compensating wage differentials {Madhuri, 1977). These include free or

subsidised non-cash benefits like food, housing, uniforms, transport,

education for children of an employee in the course of his employment.

Since employee benefits other than work place facilities and limited

social security are not statutorily governed there are differences from

organisation to organisation. These are traceable in origin to labour

welfare measures of organisations but are now an acknowledged

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component of employee remuneration packages.

(vi) Statutory benefits: These comprise benefits which every employer is

liable to incur on an employee if his employment is within the ambit of

legislation. Each type of benefit is distinctly legislated and the coverage

varies with the definition in each Act. Statutory benefits include Provident

Fund since 1952, Gratuity since 1972, Minimum bonus since 1965, Life

Insurance since 1976, Health Insurance since 1948, and Separation

compensation since 1947.

(vii) Annual bonus: Bonus has undergone substantial transformation of

concept. What used to be a voluntary gift became a statutory right to share

profits in 1965 when the Payment of Bonus Act was introduced and a

minimum bonus has now become a statutory obligation of an employer

regardless of profit or loss. However, bonus continued to be treated as an

ex-gratia payment for a long time though some adjudicators did grant

some proportion of bonus claims on no rational criteria except a broad

consideration of justice and good conscience. Adjudication decisions

gradually started conforming to a pattern awarding between 8% and

12% of annual earnings as bonus in profitable industries. A claim for

bonus in an industry that has made a profit and where the wages have not

reached living wages came to be recognised as a justifiable one.

(viii) Paid leave: Paid leave is a statutory right but organisations are free

to provide for leave in excess of statutory requirements. It is often

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neglected as a component of employee cost but appropriate costing of

man-hours worked can only be done in relation to total paid man-hours

(Randeria, 1975).

As the above aspects of prospect wage system shows more and more

benefits to the workers who are working in industries and other organizations

under public and private managements, the impfementatfons are not take p/ace

at a significant level.

1.3 Wage system in abroad

The wage system in foreign countries found different with out country. A

brief review of the experiences of some countries can enable parallels and

differences to be seen in perspective.

(i) Britain: The Table Boards Act of 1909 brought in minimum wages in Britain.

The Whitley Committee (1916-18) stressed the value of joint councils. The Wage

Councils Act of 1945 and the Terms and Conditions of Employment Act of 1959

constitute important landmarks. The Donovan Commission (1968) gave a fillip to

collective bargaining at the plant level and although the dual system has

persisted, Thomson and Gregory (1980) have found that decentralised collective

bargaining has become the norm in the private sector. According to one

estimate, wage disputes as a proportion of all industrial disputes have risen from

61% in 1960 to 85% in 1970 and industrial conflict is clearly due to frustrations of

workers' aspirations for better wages and working conditions {Bourn, 1972).

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There are temporary pay boards have also functioned to review wage

agreements in different industries. There has also been considerable pressure

for a relativities board to rationalise differentials which have arisen due to diffe-

rential profitability of industries affecting the entire range of employees in an

organisation as well as irrational inter-industry differentials due to across the

board increases and skill changes on account of technological advancement.

(ii) France: Wage determination through collective bargaining is of recent origin

and the first comprehensive agreement called the 'Matignon' agreement was

drawn up only in 1936. Labour legislation plays a role in the collective bargaining

process and an act established the legal framework for collective bargaining in

1950. Wage systems are increasingly being regarded as an internal matter for an

enterprise especially after the 'Grenelle' Declaration of 1968—an agreement

between government, employers and unions to stimulate collective bargaining

and usher in a profit sharing decree.

(iii) Sweden: No formal wage policy exists and state intervention has been

minimal although informal talks between unions and the Government on the

relative sectoral shares of national income do take place. Both employees' and

employers' federations are well developed and have been functioning for over 50

years. The labour market system is fundamentally based on the Saltsjobaden

Agreement of 1936. Discussions between the apex bodies provide 'frame

agreements' which have, no executive force but on the basis of which provisions

are embodied in collective agreements. The blue collar employees and white

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collar employees bargain separately with white collar workers being less united

at the Federal level. The manual workers' unions about 30 in number are

grouped into the Swedish Federation of Trade Unions which has over 2 million

members. The non-manual employees are grouped into the Central Organisation

of salaried employees with about 9,00,000 membership. Recently a Swedish

Confederation of Professional associations covering about 1,50,000 employees

has also started functioning. In the private sector, the Swedish Employees'

Federation comprises 41 sectoral associations and groups over 25,000

enterprises and in the public sector, National Collective Bargaining Office is the

apex body. There is no legislation on minimum wage and collective agreements

cover 85-95 % of the workforce.

At the apex level, the National budget drawn up by the Ministry of Finance

is discussed between the federations of employers and employees. Industry level

bargaining is within the central framework and conceives of increases in terms of

percentage of wage bill. Differences for local conditions are built in at the plant

level. Only industry level agreements are legally enforceable. The decentralised

second level bargaining has contributed to wage drift estimated between 3% to

5% over increases determined by apex bodies. Attempts to contain increases

have resulted in wild cat strikes in the state public services and Lapland Mines in

the 1970's and wages have become a significant source of industrial unrest

(OECD, 1975).

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(iv) Netherlands: Netherlands has a long history of government intervention. Till

about 1957 the Dutch operated a compulsory wage and price fixing system which

gave the government, acting through a special board of mediators, the power to

determine wage levels and structures. Trade unions have been relatively weak

which probably explains why state intervention has been significant. Three major

federations of employees based on religious factors exist. The majority of the

workers are covered by industry wide collective agreements. Big enterprises

enter into supplementary agreements. Collective agreements are enforceable in

general courts and arbitration boards also function. The social and economic

council created in 1950 has given way to another body called Foundation of

Labour under whose auspices negotiations take place. Official policy on wages

was weakened in the early 1960's when it was challenged by the metal workers.

Due to galloping inflation caused by the oil crises there was a freeze on wages

and dividends after the rate of inflation had doubled between 1972 and 1973 and

again between 1973 and 1974. As a result, wage agreements could not be made

for a period more than 12 months and attempts to contain increases resulted in a

major strike in the steel industry and several other industries and interim relief

and pay advances for anticipated inflation continued to be given a time when the

government stated that it was committed to containing increases to the bare

minimum in terms of percentage of wage bill (OECD, 1975).

(v) Federal Republic of Germany: In Germany there is hardly any direct

intervention by the Government. Collective bargaining takes place within the

overall economic policy framework and a dual system of centralised as well as

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decentralised bargaining is followed. There are three major employee fede-

rations—the largest one comprising 16 industry trade unions covering 7 million

workers in 1975, the other two being the Federation for Salaried Employees and

the Federation of Civil Servants (OECD, 1975). On the employers' side 43

national organisations of employers were found to be affiliated to the

Confederation of German Employers' Association by 1975. The single largest

union is the Metal workers union.

Since 1963 an independent council of 5 economic experts, reports the

general economic situation to the government annually and since 1967 a

discussion forum called "concerted action" exists to review the framework of

wages and prices, among other issues at the macro level in which discussion the

Government, financial institutions, employers and employees are represented.

The objective of the discussions is to reach the highest degree of understanding

on the framework within which collective bargaining can take place. This made it

possible for Germany to cope with the global inflation pressures since 1974 by

applying a restrictive monetary policy when union leaders agreed to moderate

revisions in the 1973-74 round of agreements. Wage claims were in the region of

15% to 17% but a settlement was reached at 8.5% in the leading industry-metals.

When this settlement was sought to be confirmed for iron and steel, the

settlement was accepted inspite of only 26% of the workers agreeing to it

because only 52% favoured the alternative course of action to strike work and

the constitution of the union required 76% for such action. Other industries too

accepted lower revisions but industrial peace was short-lived. Wild cat strikes

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occurred in many industries and collective agreements were revised before

expiry because of major strikes in the public sector, banks and metals and

wholesale trade. The .failure to implement the 1973 round of settlements with

moderate wage revisions at a time of economic necessity has been attributed to

inter-union rivalry. Even relative share of wages in national income rose and

profits and investments shrank. A hard line was taken by employers after the

Metal Industry had been given a 15 % increase in 1974 and when a 9% claim

was made by the employees' federation in 1975 an offer of 6% was made and a

settlement reached at 6.8% increase, and public sector employees were made to

accept a 6.48% increase (OECD, 1975).

Rates of pay in Germany vary widely due to industrial, regional and

organisational factors. Fringe benefits add more than 50 % to cash wages

(Steward, 1972).

(vi) Norway: Wage agreements are made collectively at the national level

between the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions and the Norwegian

Employers Confederation. Norms of standard output are set nationally with 'self

regulation' being a main feature in lieu of state intervention.

(vii) Portugal: Wage determination takes place through national labour laws,

individual contracts, collective agreements and specific regulations. There is a

growing emphasis on collective bargaining with government support and

incentive schemes have been introduced in a number of industries. About 60% of

private employees are covered by collective bargaining (OECD, 1975).

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(viii) Italy: Neither workers' nor employers' organisations are legally recognised in

Italy. Collective bargaining agreements have the force of private contracts.

Workers are entitled by law to be paid incentives if quantifiable results are

expected from them. There is also considerable opposition to job evaluation.

Under Italian law a worker can claim earnings in accordance with his

qualifications even when deployed on a lower job (OECD, 1975).

(ix) Belgium: Statutory measures do not appear to have had much effect and

even industrial commissions instituted have hardly influenced wage systems. The

1948 joint council enactment has still to be fully operationalised and

organisations continue to determine wages in a decentralised manner through

formal and informal dialogues with employee representatives, (OECD, 1975).

(x) Japan: Minimum wages were legislated in 1947 in the -recovery period after

the Second World War. A number of central, regional and special tripartite bodies

with representatives of employers, employees and the government function as

wage committees. Collective bargaining at the level of the enterprise is becoming

more popular.

(xi) U.S.A.: Local state laws play a more important part than Federal Regulation

in matters of wage. Minimum wage legislation is based on the concept of 'fair

return' and has been widely extended after the Fair Standards Act 1938 close on

the heels of the Walsh Healey Public Contracts Act which brought in lasting

minimum wage legislation. State intervention is virtually absent although wage

policy is influenced through federal policies consciously. A recent amendment in

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1977 has made $ 3.35 the minimum hourly wage. There is more reliance on

fiscal rather than monetary measures. Collective bargaining is exclusively at the

level of the enterprise and the focus of legislation is more on guaranteeing

constitutionally declared fundamental rights such as equal remuneration to men

and women regardless of race or creed or religion. Threshold agreements have

become common in enterprise level collective bargaining and payroll costs are

increasing at 10 % to 12 % per annum (Lindroth, 1981). There is emphasis on

family oriented pay packages and considerable experimentation with various

kinds of compensation packages including cafeteria compensation—the option to

choose the components within an overall cost framework is taking place

(Thomson, 1977).

(xii) USSR: An interesting feature of trade unionism in USSR is that all

employees in an enterprise ranging from unskilled to the most highly skilled and

managerial personnel are represented by the same union. Trade unions are

entitled to recognition only if they are affiliated to the Central Council of Trade

Unions which can take overall decisions on wage and wage policy binding on its

constituents. With the abolition of the Commisariat of Labour in 1933, it became

the practice for wage policy and wage structure to be agreed between the

Government and the Central Council of Trade Unions.

New productivity peaks and earnings levels emerged because of the

Stakhanovite movement. In textiles 50 % higher output than the Lancashire Mills

was achieved; in footwear, the records of the Czech Bata Factory were

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surpassed; in the metal industry the output of an electrical furnace was increased

by 20 % over the maximum of Europe. The Stakhanovite movement brought in

bonuses for a number of workmen who realised that increasing productivity need

not be synonymous with physical strain and increased production costs but

reduced unit cost of production. More production was achieved through the same

investment so that investments could be channelised for production of other

goods and services.

The development of the wage system involved mitigation of inter industry

differentials, introduction of incentive bonuses, social security measures related

to health, old age and disablement and regulation of wage rates for limited

working hours. Collective bargaining has been rehabilitated on 'a multi-tier

system with national level bodies determining the quantum of increase and the

guidelines within which member unions evolve wage systems through

permanently functioning production conferences with standing committees.

(xiii) China: There is very little literature available or, wage determination in

China. It appears that a concept of pay for the job with few differentials and a

small number of employee categories has been in vogue in industrial enterprises

whose wage levels are compared with those prevailing in the agricultural sector.

The existence of socialised benefits like education, health and other services

makes it difficult to visualise the money earnings of persons in the same way as

wages are seen in non-communist countries. According to the Chinese State

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Statistical Bureau, wage earners in Chinese cities earned an average of 14

yuans a month in 1980.

<xiv) Under-Developed Countries: The under-developed Asian, African and Latin

American countries are not being discussed individually as they face common

problems of late industrialisation, colonial heritage and blanket transformation of

imperial legislation. Although in different stages of development, most developing

nations are coping with the problems of wages and wage policy through a

mixture of state regulation combined with decentralised collective bargaining at

the enterprise level where large enterprises often assume the role of market

leader.

1.4 Comparative system of wages in India and abroad

The international experience of remuneration policy and practice has

many common features although different countries have experienced

the first impact of industrialisation at different times.

In countries like Britain and France, the first to be affected by the

industrial revolution, the development of trade unions was attempted to be

thwarted. The Le Chapelier Act of 1791 in France and the Combination

Laws of 1799 and 1800 in Britain which were later repealed represented

attempts to ban workers' organisations. Significantly such legislation did

not surface in other nations which industrialised later since history had

taught the futility of such endeavours. However, even when the existence of

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trade unions came to be accepted their influence was sought to be curtailed

by recourse to restrictions imposed on them through courts in many countries.

a) Minimum wages

By the turn of the twentieth century the natural minimum wage was no

longer regarded acceptable and a number of countries became

concerned about minimum wage. The earliest examples of minimum

wage regutation are New Zealand (1894), Australia (1896), USA (1912) and

UK (1914). Canada, France and Mexico also introduced minimum wage

regulation by 1918.

In U.S.A. the thrust for minimum wages received a set-back when after 17

states had enacted minimum wage legislation, the US Supreme Court declared

all minimum wage laws unconstitutional in the Adkins case in 1923. In USA the

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) culminated in about 546 different codes

of fair competition and 22 million workers became covered under minimum wage

laws passed by States. However in 1936, the US Supreme Court once again

declared minimum wage laws as unconstitutional and even Federal regulation of

minimum wages under the New Deal was struck down. Only after the US

Supreme Court had revised its position in the West Coast Hotel Company case

in 1937 it became possible to have lasting minimum wage regulation in USA

(Charles, 1973). Although wage policies in the inter war years yielded

inconclusive results it showed that authorities were becoming increasingly aware

of the significance of wage policy as a part of general economic policy.

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b) Wage policy and industrial systems

With the onset of the depression in the 1930's some countries tried to

bring about economic recovery by the adoption of genuine wage

policies although in situations of depression money wages have little real

significance and recovery is more likely to take place through progressive

employment policies that boost the balance of trade. In Australia the

Federal Court monitoring federal wage adjustments for cost of living and

skill announced a 10% wage cut to raise employment. In France the

hours of work were reduced without affecting pay so that theoretically

wage rates can be said to have increased. The international focus after

the Second World War shifted to the problem of inflation and

productivity which became controversial issues in wage revisions.

Productivity improvements were regarded as the solution to the

dislocation of economic and social structures. Problems arose mainly

because it was possible to modernise some departments in an industrial

system more than others and although ability to pay higher remuneration

increased it was considered unfair to raise the wages of only those

workers who happened to be in the departments where modernisation was

significant in contrast to equally skilled and experienced workers in other

departments.

c) Wages under collective bargaining

The inter-war years and the post-war years when disequilibrium surfaced

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were characterised by collective bargaining at the plant level as well as

industry level with both taking place simultaneously in some countries within

a general framework set by the State. In USA where the New Deal

legislation had given workers the right to bargain collectively through

representatives of their choice, industrial organisations tried to satisfy the

conditions by setting up stooge unions so that workers do not feel the

need to join an outside union or have an outside leader. To stress the

point employers used to refuse to negotiate with union office-bearers

external to the organisation and try to persuade workers that their wages

were generally better than those elsewhere and they had nothing to gain

through outside unions. Industry-wide collective bargaining became

common in countries such as France, Federal Republic of Germany,

Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden where bargaining

became collective on both sides with both employers and employees

being represented by large federations of which unions and associations

became constituent members. Developing nations where groups of

employees were not so organised and fewer industrial undertakings

existed constituted boards and panels particularly for administration of

public enterprises like railways, post and telegraphs, mines and steel.

However, self employed professionals could not collectively bargain

in a physical sense since they had no employer but have continuously

bargained with society and such of those who became employees have

negotiated contracts as in the public health services in UK and Sweden.

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 Although collective bargaining agreements started becoming popular in

several countries, their enforceability varies from country to country. In UK for

instance agreements have been no more than 'gentleman' agreements, and

unless individually accepted by employees cannot be deemed to be enforceable

contracts. In many European and Latin American countries collective agreements

regulated by legislation are enforceable, and become automatically applicable to

all employees. Since ordinary Court Judges may not be fully aware of the special

problems involved in industrial relations, special labour courts have been set up

in several countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Federal Republic of

Germany, Ireland and some p Asian, African and Latin American countries. In

France, labour inspectors have been authorised to enforce agreements and in

Australia the conciliation and arbitration courts and tribunals implement

agreements and awards through their own officers.

To achieve standardisation of wages throughout a trade or industry locally,

regionally or nationally, procedures have been adopted in several countries for

extending coverage of collective bargaining agreements to those employees who

are left uncovered. Legislation has been enacted for this purpose in Canada,

Austria, France, Switzerland, Federal Republic of Germany, Australia, New

Zealand and Argentina. This is in keeping with the collective agreements

recommendation adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1951

(OECD, 1975).

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 Countries which had experienced state intervention as well as multi-tier

bargaining like Britain and France now seem to be relying more on decentralised

collective bargaining although the dual system of industry bargaining and plant

bargaining has survived. The Economist of July 15, 1981 reported that whereas

at the time of the Donovan Commission in 1968 employers' associations

dominated the collective bargaining process, by 1981 industry-wide multi-

employer agreements covered only 27% of manual workers with 73% being

covered by plant level decentralised collective bargaining settlements. Countries

like USA and Sweden where trade unions have resisted government intervention

continue to rely on collective bargaining. Even countries like Netherlands and the

Federal Republic of Germany where centralised collective bargaining has been

successfully going on for years are experimenting with, various shades of

decentralisation in a multi-tier system.

d) Social responsibility in wage policies

In the long run unit level wage determination by government intervention

or by solely relying on industry level multiemployer agreements is difficult. At the

same time socially responsible wage policies to achieve social justice and cope

with inflation are gaining increased acceptance. Such policies have four aspects.

Firstly there is a thrust to establish minimum conditions in employment.

Secondly, various approaches have been developed to cope with erosion in

money earnings caused by world-wide inflation. Thirdly, in as much as wages

have been found to be more closely associated with prices than with employment

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{Gordon, 1975) wage policy is sought to be viewed in the total economic context

of prices and employment. Fourthly, since wages only represent one kind of

income, the disparities between wages and other incomes also assume

importance. In developing countries it has been found that the income of wage

earners as a rule is higher than the rest of the population particularly the rural

sections. These aspects can be examined one by one.

Emphasis on productivity has been one way of coping with wage

revisions under inflationary pressures in different nations, In UK, USA,

France and the Netherlands considerable concern was shown by the

State, tn Netherlands it was decreed that wages be kept in step with

productivity and this was a part of a total incomes policy implemented by the

State between 1954 and 1963. A group of economic advisers had made

similar recommendations to the President of the USA in 1962. In UK the

National Incomes Commission ruled in 1963 that wage increases even

where they are in proportion to productivity increases should be limited to

what can be paid out of national productivity increase as a whole. However, since

the Commission had no jurisdiction over arbitration awards, the system

did not work satisfactorily. In France the Prime Minister in an Open letter

to the Chairman of the National Council of French employers

expressed concern over inflation and exhorted all concerned to keep

national economic factors in view even when wage revisions linked with

productivity of the industrial system come under review.

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 The Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Austria and Sweden where

indexation for cost of living is absent have had higher increases in wage bill than

many other European countries like Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands,

Luxembourg and Italy. In Italy, cost control despite indexation has been possible

due to a uniform cost of living allowance per point since 1977 with one full point

being the difference between one step and the next unlike Australia, Belgium,

Denmark, Netherlands and Luxembourg where allowance and bonuses are fixed

as a percentage of basic rate and lead to double linkage—one linkage with the

price index and another with pay. In Australia proportional increases for different

categories have been preferred to prevent erosion of differentials since 1978.

The European Economic Commission has aimed at achievement of

harmonised working and living conditions in its nine member countries but

there is hardly any sign towards unification of systems with wide

variations based on historical, cultural and national factors.

1.5 Genesis of wage system

Wages of certain categories of employees also contain elements

analogous to rent, quasi-rent and monopoly surpluses. While these surpluses as

a part of wage are also predetermined and fixed, they are traceable in origin to

factors such as special skills, past investments on education or monopoly

conditions. Since surpluses accrue due to the existence of choice in a

competitive environment, a wage can also be differentiated from other incomes

by reference to the degree of freedom and choices exercised by the two

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contracting parties the employer who hires labour and the employee who offers

his labour for an income. It is the very existence of choice that distinguishes

wage systems of the present day from slavery, serfdom and artisanship.

1.5.1 Labour in slave societies

In slave societies the price of labour was not determined contractually with

the slave but determined in the form of a commodity price depending on demand

for and supply of slaves. The price represented a one time fixed cost to which a

variable cost of maintenance had to be added depending on the treatment

determined for the slave and the output of work extracted which in turn were a

function of labour supply since a master could work his slaves hard if he could

envisage cheap replenishment of his stock.

1.5.2 Labour under serfdom

Under serfdom which prevailed over most of Europe during feudalism in

the middle ages, the serf owed customary tribute or services to his lord and was

attached to the lands of the feudal lord. In seventeenth and eighteenth century

Germany and nineteenth century Russia, estates with so many 'souls' used to be

transacted. History is full of examples and even Edward I in England had made a

grant of the royal mines to his Italian creditors, the Frescobaldi, together with the

compulsory labour of the 'king's miners' (Dobb.1966).

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1.5.3 Emergence of wages

Socialist economists have associated the exercise of economic freedom

or personal or social occupational choice with property relations in society.

According to their view property rights determine the forms of relationship

between social groups and categories. Under both slavery and serfdom, these

rights were severely curtailed by (aw. Even the free craftsman or artisan under

late feudalism was not a wage earner being self employed with a feudality

committed occupational choice making and selling his own product and retaining

any surplus or net revenue. Changes in agrarian relations brought about by the

enclosure movement and rapid transformations due to a spurt in population,

improved transport systems, and metamorphic technological innovations ushered

in the first Industrial Revolution in England around 1760. The emergence of the

new industrial system under captains of industry motivated by profit who owned

factories, machines and raw materials brought together a large number of

persons who had hardly any resources of their own except labour.

1.5.4 Wage earners in the new industrial system

The emerging industrial system made it possible to conceive of two kinds

of wage earners: (1) persons owning material and physical exploitable resources

on which labour could be hired, and (2) persons who became compulsory wage

earners because the prevailing distribution of property did not enable them to

exercise ownership over such resources. Whereas the former category of

persons had a choice to become wage earners out of preference, the choice of

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persons who did not own productive such as land became severely restricted. It

is, therefore, not surprising that the relationship of employer and wage earner

continues to be seen as an extension of the concept of master and servant of the

medieval ages moving towards a system of partnership which has become a

universal feature of the industrial society today. With the increasing participation

of the common man in corporate organisations ownership of many organisations

has become widely dispersed and can no longer be equated with actual control.

In such a situation, the de facto custodians and their subordinates are seen in the

mantle of employers down to a vanishing point where the distinction between

employer and employee as erstwhile master and servant becomes nebulous.

1.5.5 Changing concept of wage

The definition of 'wage' as the income of a man who relies entirely on his

own labour to provide him and his family with a living (Mouly, 1969) appears to

be all embracing. Not only does it fail to distinguish the extent to which an income

earner relies on his own labour in contrast to other income from land, property or

other invested resources, it completely ignores the social reality that even income

earned by a man entirely from his own labour may not all be wage. Social and

industrial conflict that arises today is not merely between the so called capitalist

entrepreneur and the common labour but also between the lower categories of

employees who identify themselves with labour and the higher categories of

employees of an organisation viewed as management. In fact this conflict bet-

ween a higher category of employees and clustered lower categories of

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 496931
employees is more conspicuous in the industrial world today than the classical

conflict between wage earners and dividend earners.

1.5.6 Distinction between wage and salary

Wages other than at the lowest level of unskilled employees, are likely to

include surpluses in addition to remuneration for labour hired since even the

lowest strata of unskilled labour varies in quality and productivity with the general

level of development in a society. The distinction between 'wage' and salary' is

difficult to draw since all employee earnings are Rely to include surpluses and

the nature of cost incurred on different categories of employees is likely to

include monetary non-monetary benefits. Most wages are akin to salaries which

term generally connotes earnings of skilled labour of all sorts. The dictionary

meaning of the word salary as a periodic payment to persons doing jobs other

than mechanical has little relevance in the context of present day technology

when a scientist working on jet engines may be engaged in mechanical work and

a machine operator may actually be engaged in 'clerical work' such as reading

off figures from a dial and making a periodic record of the same with very limited

involvement in operations. Wages conventionally thought of as blue incomes and

salaries construed as white collar do not appear to be as clearly demarcated as

before with changing technology and recognition of a new status for skilled

qualified persons engaged on the techniques of operations who represent very

different profiles from the blue collar worker of yesterday. In the context or rapid

technological development it is likely that the distinction between the blue coin

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mad the white collar employees may disappear with time of changes in the

manufacturing process and the of skill composition in future.

The artificial distinction between wages as representing incomes of a

collectively bargainable category of employees and salaries as representing

incomes individually determined his also become elusive and illusory with the

changing practices of earnings determination prevafent in the industriaf system

today. In this context any discussion on wages or salaries is really an exploration

into employee earnings of different categories of employees and it is difficult to

distinguish an income as a wage or a salary by mere classification of employees

into lower and higher categories without establishing whether the major

constituent of such earnings is wage or wage plus surplus.

1.6 Methodology

The purpose of the study was to be analyse the problems and prospects,

if any, in the socio-economic conditions, organization behaviour, environmental

condition and performance factors of the daily wage workers of the selected steel

plant of Visakhapatnam city in Andhra Pradesh. In this chapter, the method

adopted for the section of subjects, section of variables, section of tools

(questionnaires), pilot study, tests administered {survey by questionnaire) and

the method of statistical treatment used for analysis of data have been explained.

1.6.1 Scope of the study

The steel industry provided about 159,000 wage and salary jobs in 2008.

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Employment in the steel industry is broken into two major sectors: iron and steel

mills and ferroalloy production, which employed 98,900 workers; and steel

products from purchased steel, which employed 60,100 workers. The steel

industry traditionally has been located in the eastern and midwestern regions of

the country, where iron ore, coal, or one of the other natural resources required

for steel are found. Even today, about 42 percent of steelworkers are employed

in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The growth of EAFs has allowed

steelmaking to spread to virtually all parts of the country, although many firms

find lower cost rural areas the most attractive. Although most steel mills are

small, about 88 percent of the jobs in 2008 were in establishments employing at

least 100 workers.

Although the steel making process varies with the type of furnace used,

the jobs associated with the various processes are similar. By a large margin,

production occupations, transportation and material moving occupations, and

installation, maintenance and repair occupations make up the majority of jobs in

steel mills. In addition, significant numbers of daily wage workers are needed to

assist in the production process, material moving and repair of equipment.

Workers generally are assigned to work in a particular sector of the production

line, such as the blast furnace or rolling mill areas, and their titles reflect the

types of machines they work on. (http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs014.htm)

The Government and NGO organizations are exploiting different

awareness programmes which need to be communicated the daily wage workers

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different groups on their socio-economic back ground differ on the issues relating

to the topic understudy. The study also analyse opinon of the daily wage workers

about their wages and payment procedure at steel plant. This will help the future

generation and policy makers to consider the challenges of the daily wage

workers facing for their livelihood. Further, the study provides scope for

implementing changes in the policies relating to labour welfare and social

security measures. The study would be highly helpful for further research in

related areas of problems and prospect measures with reference to any public or

private enterprise.

1.6.3 Need for the Study

The need of the study is to analyze the socio-economic conditions and

working conditions related to the profession of the daily wage workers in

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Hence, the problem may be stated as whether there

is any significant variation among the daily wage workers in their socio-economic

conditions like age, caste, religion, marital status, educational background,

income levels etc., and also, the study is going to analyse significant levels of

daily wage labourers in the Organizational structure (Profile of the unit), Work

environment, Safety measures, Work details, Wage related. Welfare activities,

Incentives to the workers and Women welfare. Therefore, the problem for the

present study is stated as "Problems and Prospects of Daily Wage Workers - A

Case Study with Reference to Vizag Steel Plant"

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1.6.4 Objectives of the Study

1. To understand the socio economic conditions of the daily wage workers.

2. To understand role and significance of daily wage workers in industrial

sector.

3. To study the difference among the study units where the daily wage

workers are working.

4. To understand the impact of work environmental factors on the daily wage

workers.

5. To analyse the safety measures taken by the units for the welfare of the

daily wage workers.

6. To find out the work details performing by the daily wage workers in the

steel plant.

7. To analyse the wages and wage related factors observed by the daily

wage workers.

8. To study the welfare activities observed by the employer/contractor to the

daily wage workers.

9. To identify the possible ways for protecting the daily wage workers.

10. To study the incentives given by the organizer/ contractor to the daily

wage workers.

11. To analyse the women welfare activities taken by the organizer/ contractor

to the daily wage workers.

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1.6.5 Impact of the study

In this study, it will be given the opportunity to assess the present

conditions of the daily wage workers in the industrial organizations like Vizag

Steel Plant where the productivity of daily wage workers make some decisions

about changes that would like to make to use the human power more effectively

in favourable working conditions. There is no one right way to manage the

human power of the daily wage workers; however, it is important to get to know

any industry/organization so that it can make good decisions about how to use

the human power. In addition to this there should be proper measures in

payment of wages and incentives, development of workers in working skills

through training facilities, improve the health and education. If the daily wage

workers perceive that this is an area of the life that needs improvement, this

program is for them. Throughout the study, the research will learn the problems

and prospects of daily wage workers in the study area and indicate effective

measures to improve their life for better skills in work ability.

1.6.6 Database

In this study, the daily wage workers who are working under different

organizations working at Vizag Steel Plant in Visakhapatnam city selected as

data. The number of daily wage workers from different organizations, where they

are performing their daily duties, selected for analysis of the study.

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Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

 The vizag Steel Plant is a organization where thousands of daily wage

workers are engaged regulary day to day works.These labourers are worming

under different zones.There are number of daily wage labour supply units to the

Vizag Steel Plant where 20,269 daily wage laboureres are working under nine

zones. Among there labourers both skilled and unskilled are engaged daily in the

performing their duties in the Vizag Steel Plant

The sample daily wage workers are considered from both skilled and

unskilled labour. The wage system of the daily wage workers are also depending

on their working performance. The skilled workers are getting little bit higher

wages than the unskilled workers. The distinguish skills among the daily wage

workers are considered by their work experience. According to the survey it was

found that the skilled workers are getting around 200-300 rupeer per day and the

unskilled workers are getting between 75-200 rupees per day. And their work

timings are morning are between morning 9.0 AM to evening 6.0 PM. In the

middle between half-an-hour to one hour will be given to lunch break.

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for their better living conditions and success in their regular life. Some of the

important awareness programs like minimum wage rates, work compensation,

accidental benefits, etc., are not yielding complete results due to lack of proper

education, ignorance and lack of the knowledge especially the migrate labour

from the areas like rural, tribal and remote villages. There are so many labour

welfare organizations and voluntary organizations which are taking many steps to

create awareness in the labourers on the labour act, minimum wage rates etc,, it

shows that there is a need for preserving these daily wage workers by extending

the needed support through special laws and policies to make benefit to these

group of people. It is in this background, the present study becomes an

important, as it is design to present the history and present status of daliy wage

workers, different types of public and private organizations with suggestions for

improving their living conditions in the developmental processes of the human

resource management and at the same time for the improvement of their

personal life. Hence, there is a scope to analyse the problems of the daily wage

workers in the industrial sectors to the future generations.

1.6.2 Significance of the study

The study is of great significance for it ascertains the opinions of daily

wage workers on problems and prospects at their work place of Vizag Steel

Plant. The assessment of workers problems and prospect measures will be of

immense help to the management of the organisations and also the government

for the formulation of sound labour oriented policies in future. The study with a

large sample of 335 respondents provides scope to find out how the views of

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 Table 1.1
Sample daily wage workers of the stud
No.of
SI.No Zone Skilled Semi Skilled U
Contractors
Roling Mills and Auxilary
1 10 751 1136
Shops
2 Services & Utilities 12 601 1143

3 Blast Furnace 8 3316 3929

4 Air Seperation & Auxilaries 6 57 157

Steel Melting Shop & Calium
5 16 1287 1321
and Refractory Plant
6 Sinter Plant 3 636 1004

7 Raw Material Handling Plant 17 435 641

Thearmal Power Plant &
8 4 174 338
Coke Ovens
9 Centra Electrical Zone 15 51 45

TOTAL 91 7308 9714

Source: www.vizagsteel.com

Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

 The following table explains about the number of daily wage workers

taken as sample for the present study who are working at Vizag Steel plant at

nine zones. The details of the sample respondents under the nine zones

presented the table 1.1. Out of the total daily wage workers selected for the

present study, 12.24 percent are in Roling Mills and Auxilary Shops zone, 11.34

percent are in Services & Utilities zone, 10.45 percent are at Blast Furnace zone,

12.84 percent are working at Air Seperation & Auxilaries zone, 11.94 percent are

working at Steel Melting Shop & Calium and Refractory Plant zone, 11.34

percent are at Sinter Plant zone, 10.75 percent are working under Raw Material

Handling Plant, 10.15 percent are working at Thearmal Power Plant & Coke

Ovens zone and the remaining 8.96 percent of the sample daily wage workers

are working at Centra Electrical Zone.

The Visakhapatnam city is famous for its fast growing industrial

development and also recognized with Vizag Steel Pant which is one of the best

steel plant in the country. The steel plant workers those who are working as daily

wage workers under different zones, the investigator has collected the sample

data for the current study. These pricate contractors are playing a vital role in

providing daily workers to the plant for performing their regular activities under

the above said nine zones still the plant was established during 1985 and have

been functioning with a profitable industry. Today, we are finding the impact of

these daily wage workers in each and every corner of the plant. The subjects

were selected only from the above said nine zones.

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 The Visakhapatnam Steel Paint is very much busy with its regular

activities and the daily wage workers are playing an important role in performing

many job works {both technical and non-technical) by the public & private labour

contractors. The daily wage workers are performing their duties with their best of

knowledge and they were prove themselves to be worthy of being included as

simple units on the basis of their credibility. They used to work at different place

with different types of works assigned by their supervisors. Some of them are

critical and risky but these daily wage workers performing their jobs without

hesitate or ignore.

For the selection of the subjects from these nine types of zones the

investigator first gained access to them in the following ways.

> Collecting the information about the zones/departments where the daily

wage workers are working and performing their duties.

> By enquiring the list of daily wage workers under the control of different

contracotrs/organizations who are supplying these daily wage workers to

the Vizag Steel Plant.

> By enquiring in the Vizag Labour Office, about the list of organizations,

which are providing daily wage workers to the Vizag Steel Plant in

Visakhapatnam.

The sample obtained from the above selected departments showed a total

number of 335 daily wage workers.

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1.6.7 Tools and techniques

"Questionnaire" is a form distributed to the subjects and filled by the

respondents under the supervision of the investigator or interviewer (Agarval,

1975). The researcher has gone through various studies relating to the daily

wage workers and with the help of those previous studies designed a suitable

questionnaire for the current study.

a) Validity and reliability

The questionnaires administered to collect data on the Socio-Economic

factors of the respondents along with the Organizational structure (Profile of the

unit). Work environment, Safety measures, Work details, Wage related, Welfare

activities, Incentives to the workers and Women welfare factors are standardized

and Analysed the tools.

In general, a test or technique is valid if it measures what it claims to

measure validity is therefore concerned with the extent to which a technique is

actually measured what it is intended to measure (Lioveil and Lawson, 1970).

According to Rubin (1984), validity is the soundness of the interpretation

of the test It is closeness of the agreement between what the test measures and

the behaviour it is intended to measure. The most common type of validity is

content validity criterion related validity. It means that the test is the degree to

which the sample of items, tasks or questionnaire on a test are representative of

some defined Universe or domain of contest (Clarke and Clarke, 1984).

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 The items of the questionnaire and inventory used as a tools in the study

are so meaningful and aim at collecting the data valid for the study. As such

content validity of the Questionnaire used in this study was established.

The investigator used a self designed questionnaire with the help of few

standardized questionnaires which are used in previous studies in relation to

daily wage workers. Later, the newly designed questionnaire standardized with

the help of spit-half, validity and reliability methods. The purpose of this research

study was to measure the prospects of daily wage workers in relation to profile of

the unit, work environment, safety measures, work details, payment of wages,

welfare facilities and incentives to the workers and at the same time the study

wants to measure the problems faced by the daily wage workers in Vizag Steel

Plant at Visakhapatnam city of Andhra Pradesh district.

b) Selection of variables

The investigator reviewed the scientific literature pertaining to the study

from journals, periodicals, and research papers and taking into consideration the

need of study and the feasibility criteria, the following independent and

dependent variables were selected for the study.

i) Independent variables

The socio-economic characteristics of the respondent are taken as

independent variables in this study.

1. Sex
2. Age

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 3. Religion
4. Social class
5. Marital status
6. Level of education
7. Traditional occupation of the family
8. Migration particulars
9. Current job
10. Per day income
11. Present working area
12. Experience in the present job
13. Profile of the unit

ii) Dependent variables

The following variables were selected as dependent variables for the

present study.

1. Work environment.
2. Safety measures.
3. Work details.
4. Wage related.
5. Welfare activities
6. Incentives to the workers
7. Women welfare

c) Statistical procedures

The obtained data were analysed by using cross tables, ANOVA (f-test)

tables and 't' test tables. Two way across tables was used to find out the

significant difference between and among groups, and f-test, t-tests were

employed to calculated the mean scores of satisfaction and performance levels

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of dependent variables wherever necessary. If the obtained f ratio was

significant the means were compared and the Scheffy's test was used as post

Hoc Test of Significance to find out any significant difference between any three

and above paired means. The T test was used to find out the significance of

difference between and among the groups of independent variables with the

means of each dependent variables. The hypotheses were tested and discussed

accordingly. The data were processed and tabulated with the help of SPSS

(Statistical Package for Social Sciences).

1.6.8 Chapterisation

For clarity and comprehension, the study has been presented in seven

chapters. The first chapter deals with the introduction of wage system in India

and abroad, and methodology of the study. In the methodology the discussion

has taken on scope, need, objectives and impact of the study along with

database, tool and techniques etc., The review of literature is discussed in the

second chapter where, the studies within the country and out side the country

from text books, articles in journals and publications. The impact of daily wage

system on labour productivity is discussed in the third chapter. The fourth chapter

throws light on the profile of Vizag Steel Plant and labour activities takes place.

The problems and prospects of daily wage workers in Vizag Steel Plant is

analysed with the help of primary data is presented in chapter five. The sixth

chapter analyses the perceptions of labour on Vizag Steel Plant is discussed.

The last chapter presented the summary of findings along with important

suggestions.

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1.6.9 Period of the study

The study is qualitative in nature as it focuses its attention on the study of

problems and prospects of daily wage workers working at Vizag Steel Plant in

Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh and the study areas include statutory welfare

facilities, non-statutory welfare facilities and also the social security measures

provided by the company to its employees. However, secondary data have been

collected for a period of 12 years from 1997-98 to 2008-09 and the same has

been presented in the research work. Wherever data are found to be scarce, the

study period has been restricted for five years from 2006-07 to 2010-11 in the

study areas.

1.6.10 Hypothesis

The hypothesis for the present study was framed as follows:

1. There is no significant difference between the daily wage workers in their

income levels depending on their literacy levels.

2. There is no significant difference between the male and female daily wage

workers in their income levels.

3. There is no significant difference in income levels among daily wage

workers by their experience in their work.

4. There is no significant difference among the units in payment of wage and

welfare measures to the daily wage workers.

5. There is no significant difference among different unit daily wage workers

in environmental conditions at work place.

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 6. There is no significant difference in observing safety measures at work

place by the contractor/organization.

7. There is no significant difference in work detail to the daily wage workers

among different units of organizations.

8. There is no significant difference in wage related factors among different

units of daily wage workers organizations.

9. There is no significant difference in welfare facilities of the daily wage

workers by working organization.

10. There is no significant difference among daily wage workers units in

providing incentives to their workers.

1.6.11 Implications of the study

The employer as an institution is concerned with his status as a wage

leader or a large employer or a benevolent employer. There is a

tendency at the organisational level to treat wage determination as a

decision taken rather than a fait accompli forced by external pressures of

social and economic forces. Since wage determination involves an

expression of organisational philosophy as well as what other

organisations are doing, institutional analysis is also concerned with the

relative importance of institutional and non-institutional considerations

once it is acknowledged that non-institutional factors can only determine

wages loosely leaving a range of discretion.

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 The organizations which are related with daily wage workers should

determine not only to the ware related factors of the workers but also look in to

the welfare of the workers by providing good environmental conditions, facilities

at work place and health care measures.

1.6.12 Limitations of the study

The study was limited in the following respects and the limitations would

be taken into consideration while interpreting the results.

> The study was confined to 335 Sample from the selected nine Units

linked with Vizag Steel Plant in Visakhapatnam city of Andhra Pradesh.

> The study was limited to socio-economic status and Motivational,

Environmental and Job satisfaction factors of the working journalists have

taken in to consideration.

> The important elements like, age, sex, education, caste, religion, etc.,

along with statements/questions regarding Organizational structure

(Profile of the unit), Work environment, Safety measures, Work details,

Wage related, Welfare activities, Incentives to the workers and Women

welfare activities to the daily wage workers has taken in the current study.

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