Bank unions are to go on a four-day strike from February 25th after talks failed to close out the 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement
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The wage revision is due from 1 November 2012 subsequent to the expiry of the last Bipartite Settlement (9th) on 31 October 2012. The common charter of demands, separately for workmen and officers, was submitted by the United Forum of Bank Union’s (UBFU) to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) before the expiry of the last settlement.
“The IBA has gone back on its assurances and said it cannot afford the hike. It has offered a paltry increase of 0.5 per cent over the earlier increase offer of 12.5 per cent which we anyway consider inadequate. We have been pushed to the path of agitation,” says Vishwas Utagi, general secretary of the Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, and vice-president of the All India Bank Employees Association. In 2010, the IBA had revised wages by 17.5 per cent for the 2007-2012 period. UFBU’s demand is for a 19.5 per cent hike; the payout — if North Block were to accept the same — is close to Rs 7,000 crore.
A breakthrough was expected after the conciliatory efforts of the central chief labour commissioner B. K. Sanwariya on 5 January. Negotiations between IBA and UFBU over the next two days saw the former increase its offer to 12.5 per cent (up by 0.5 per cent) in pay-slip components with an assurance to have further flexibility, while UFBU reduced its demand to 19.5 per cent (from 23 per cent).
In state-run banks, wages and terms of service have moved towards uniformity from the days of the First Bipartite Wage Settlement (October 1966). The settlements are based on collective bargaining between unions and IBA, a club of predominantly state-run banks. In effect, state-run bankers determine wages and then crib in private about being poorly paid!
In recent times, there has been a debate on whether pay at these banks should be decided on the basis of bilateral negotiations between a bank and its unions (read staffers). It is part of a larger discourse to give more operational freedoms to the better among state-run banks so that they can retain and attract talent based on their capacity to do so. The nuanced point that’s being made is that the same freedom if given to the laggards may further push up their operating costs. But no headway has been made on the subject of bilateral talks as unions fear their hold at an industry level over bank managements will stand to be diluted and reduce their collective bargaining ability.
It’s an issue that has been put off for long; not anymore. Bank unions are to go on a four-day strike from February 25th after talks failed to close out the 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement. It will not only embarrass the NDA government as it presents its first full Union Budget after coming to power in May last year, worse is in the offing — threat of an indefinite strike from 14 March as advance tax inflows trickle in.
The wage revision is due from 1 November 2012 subsequent to the expiry of the last Bipartite Settlement (9th) on 31 October 2012. The common charter of demands, separately for workmen and officers, was submitted by the United Forum of Bank Union’s (UBFU) to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) before the expiry of the last settlement.
“The IBA has gone back on its assurances and said it cannot afford the hike. It has offered a paltry increase of 0.5 per cent over the earlier increase offer of 12.5 per cent which we anyway consider inadequate. We have been pushed to the path of agitation,” says Vishwas Utagi, general secretary of the Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, and vice-president of the All India Bank Employees Association. In 2010, the IBA had revised wages by 17.5 per cent for the 2007-2012 period. UFBU’s demand is for a 19.5 per cent hike; the payout — if North Block were to accept the same — is close to Rs 7,000 crore.
A breakthrough was expected after the conciliatory efforts of the central chief labour commissioner B. K. Sanwariya on 5 January. Negotiations between IBA and UFBU over the next two days saw the former increase its offer to 12.5 per cent (up by 0.5 per cent) in pay-slip components with an assurance to have further flexibility, while UFBU reduced its demand to 19.5 per cent (from 23 per cent).
In state-run banks, wages and terms of service have moved towards uniformity from the days of the First Bipartite Wage Settlement (October 1966). The settlements are based on collective bargaining between unions and IBA, a club of predominantly state-run banks. In effect, state-run bankers determine wages and then crib in private about being poorly paid!
In recent times, there has been a debate on whether pay at these banks should be decided on the basis of bilateral negotiations between a bank and its unions (read staffers). It is part of a larger discourse to give more operational freedoms to the better among state-run banks so that they can retain and attract talent based on their capacity to do so. The nuanced point that’s being made is that the same freedom if given to the laggards may further push up their operating costs. But no headway has been made on the subject of bilateral talks as unions fear their hold at an industry level over bank managements will stand to be diluted and reduce their collective bargaining ability.
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