The Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Association of India (FMRAI) will finalise a suitable working hour structure for Sales Promotion Employees (SPE), restricting the working hours to eight hours a day and five and half days a week.
The Association has entrusted its 305 sub-units to thrash out the matter and to adjust the working hours according to local conditions. In the 21st conference conducted recently at Mumbai, FMRAI had called upon the entire SPE fraternity of the country to come forward, contact sub-units, participate in the meetings and express their opinions firmly to enable sub and state units to take decision on eight hours' work per day.
"Our decision is to discuss the matter right from the grass root level, covering each and every detail from the entire spectrum of SPEs. As our work is not time bound, we may take some time to sit together and to discuss the issue threadbare. We are expecting to come out with a concrete idea within a few months," FMRAI general secretary D P Dubey told Pharmabiz.
Subsequently, the issue would be taken up with different organisations including the relevant government departments, trade unions, medical practitioners, chemists, etc. for making it widely acceptable. Discussions with the organisation and individual medical practitioners may also be held company-wise and on time and periodicity of visits, according to the resolution of the conference.
The FMRAI demands to restrict the working time at eight hours a day and five and half days a week. Any extra work beyond this shall entitle SPEs double payment for extra work. This is however denied at present. Eight hours' work shall include one-hour lunch break and one-hour preparatory work including office work with the remaining six hours for fieldwork. On Saturday, the fieldwork should be for three hours, according to the demand.
The conference also decided to launch agitation and shall enlist the companies who are in the forefront of attack on the sales promotion employees to prioritise movement against them. It also reiterated that the Association would extend co-operation to the companies, which accept the trade union rights of SPEs, signs regular agreement on services and working procedures and does not interfere in the internal democracy of the trade union as per its earlier decision.
The conference extended demand to all state governments to immediately amend the state labour law on the lines of West Bengal, providing workman status to SPEs. The conference further expressed its determination to initiate all round actions to vigorously pursue the above demands at all levels so that the long pending demands related to law are fulfilled for the SPEs, according to the FMRAI sources.
The confederation's resolution also demanded for reduction of prices of all medicines, control of prices of all medicines particularly all medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), monitor production of all essential bulk drugs and ensure their availability, etc. He added that there should be cap on margin for trade of pharmaceuticals, particularly on branded generics, all public sector units should be revived for production of essential medicines including the medicines required for treating cancer, HIV/AIDS etc, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act should be amended appropriately to punish the fake drug producers and sellers and appropriate measures should be taken to stop various kinds of unethical business and marketing practices by the medicine companies.