MOU SIGNED BETWEEN IBA & UFBU

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU FOR UNIQUE DISPLAY OF UNITY. MOU SIGNED BETWEEN UFBU & IBA ON WAGE REVISION SETTLEMENT & PENSION OPTION. WAGE REVISION 17.5%, PENSION TO ALL - COST SHARING 70:30, FINALISATION OF SETTLEMENT & ARREARS PAYMENT SHALL BE WITHIN 90 DAYS. DETAILS FOLLOW

BA, bank union to meet over wage revision

KOLKATA: The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) have agreed to meet on November 27 to take the wage bipartite

talks forward. Over 7 lakh public sector bank employees will keenly wait for the outcome of the meeting. Wage revision for them is due from November 2007.

Incidentally, both negotiating parties have agreed on a 17.5% wage hike. They have also in principle agreed to offer monthly pension to 2.66 bank employees, who did not opt for it in 1993. But their last meeting in the final week of September remained inconclusive as they could not arrive at the accounting methodology of pension.

"Issues like accounting for the cost of pension and the cost sharing arrangement between bank management and employees, the proposed introduction of New Pension Scheme (NPS) and variable pay are some issues that need to be resolved," said All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) president Rajen Nagar.

UFBU -- the umbrella organization for nine leading bank unions -- is not also comfortable with IBA’s proposal to introduce NPS for bankers joining after April 2010.

IBA and UFBU jointly finalise the pay hike plans for public sector bank employees. Talks on the eighth bipartite meeting has been on for quite sometime now. Public sector banks including State Bank of India have 2.44 lakh officers and 4.68 lakh workmen employees who are awaiting a wage revision now.

Bank Wage Revision : Are the Unions leaders in backfoot ?

Still there is no news about the next date of talks with IBA as it appears IBA wants to wear out these retired union leaders who are not in touch with the mood of the general employees and officers. IBA is trying that by delaying the next around of talks to the maximum extent possible they will frustrate these leaders who will be forced to sign on dotted lines. Union leaders are not at a bargaining advantage at this stage, as they have failed to get an honourable settlement at appropriate time due to their own politics.

The best time to get a reasonable settlement was around November 2007, when the new settlement had become due. At that time communists shared power with the government (most of bank unions are affiliated with communist parties) and elections were around the corner. Central Government employees were able to extract the maximum by hitting at the right time.

It is surprising that Bankers are frequently asked by Communists to go on strike on issues which are their personal agendas and not wage settlement or improvement in working conditions of the employees. They ask Bank union leaders to go on strike on petty issues which are related purely to their politics. However, we have never heard any communist leader either on TV or newspaper, wherein they come openly to support an honourable settlement for bank employees or ask for All India strike in favour of bank employees.

Do you remember when did the last time any communist leader (like Somnath Chatterjee, Karat Parkash , SitaRam Yechury) has given any statement in favour of bank employees or taken up this cause with Finance Minister or Prime Minister or spoken about the same in Parliament? Do you remember any contribution of communist leaders for better pay for bank employees when they shared power for over four years with Congress Government? Did they ever made any strong (we are not even aware of weak) speech in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha in favour of pay parity of bank employees with Central Government employees? Answer to all these are in negative. However, all these MPs ensued that their salaries and perks are increased manifold.

However, sensing the mood of the bankers, unions are now desperately trying to face save themselves and issue statements as if negotiations are going on with IBA. Therefore, they meet among themselves issue statements giving impressions to gullible bankers as if matters are under strong discussions with IBA. It is heard that a meeting of the UFBU was held on 4/11/2009, at Chennai. Com P S Pillai (President, BEFI) presided over the meeting. The following decisions were taken by UFBU:The meeting took note of the negative approach of the Government in relation to the revised scheme of compassionate ground appointment / financial compensation to the family of the employees dying in harness and felt that the scheme as discussed and finalized between UFBU and IBA should be got expedited.In respect of condition of the IBA that the entire cost of pension arising out of the wage revision to be adjusted from the proposed wage revision and that in the next settlement again another actuarial valuation should be carried out and the gap should be funded by employees sharing the same, after detailed discussions, the UFBU while rejecting the above conditions, expressed its view that the additional pension cost can be adjusted by sharing a portion of the same as was done in the 7th and 8th bipartite wage revision.In respect of IBA’s condition that a new contributory pension scheme should be accepted by the unions from 1-4-2010 as a pre-condition for extending one more option for pension scheme, the UFBU felt that a mutually acceptable solution should be worked out to resolve the same as unilateral imposition of such conditions are not acceptable.In respect of IBA’s suggestion for introduction of the concept of fixed pay and variable pay for bank employees / officers, UFBU decided not to accept the proposal.Based on the above, the meeting decided to pursue the issues with the IBA during the next round of talks to be held shortly and to expedite the conclusions as early as possible.

No union leader has the courage to respond to the numerous queries of the bankers who are anxiously waiting for honourable settlement.

(These analysis is made by a bank employee, debates are welcome in this issue. Publisher of this blog is neither in favour nor against of the opinion)

SBI staff seek hike in remuneration

Kolkata, Aug. 13 State Bank of India, it appears, will continue to struggle with the problem of staff shortage unless the remuneration of its employees is significantly stepped up.

According to the State Bank of India Staff Association, Bengal Circle, more than 13,500 employees of the bank retired in 2008-09, and though the bank recruited 33,000 people during the year, an estimated 40 per cent of the new recruits left on account of the poor pay packets.

The bank’s business is growing and with it the expectations of its customers about service quality. To render satisfactory customer service, the bank will need a motivated workforce. But the association apprehends it will not be possible to attract good people and thus build a motivated workforce at the current levels of remuneration. The problem will assume critical proportions in the next four years when a large chunk of the existing employees retire.

Contrary to the general perception, the remuneration of bank employees is poor vis-À-vis that of Central and State Government employees. As a spokesman for the association points out, the total remuneration of a clerk based in a metro and working in the lowest grade in SBI is Rs 7,919 per month, which is to rise to Rs 9,300 per month as per the Indian Banks’ Association’s recent offer of a 17.5 per cent wage hike. This compares poorly with the remuneration of a lower division clerk in the West Bengal Government, whose starting monthly income is Rs 11,880 and that of an upper division clerk in the Central Government, Rs 17,150.

A probationary officer in SBI starts with a salary of Rs 19,181 per month and in other banks Rs 16,146, says the spokesman. Side by side, under the State’s School Service Commission, a teacher with a Master’s degree starts at a monthly salary of Rs 21,000, a teacher with an Honours degree with Rs 19,000, and a teacher with a just pass degree at Rs 16,800. A West Bengal Civil Service Grade ‘A’ Officer starts with a salary of Rs 27,810, he adds.

Hats off to you Comrades Congratulations for the grand success of our two days Strike on 6th and 7th August, 2009

Salutes to all our members ! Congratulations. Once again the total unity and traditional militancy of the bank employees and officers have been so well-manifested, if at all anyone had any doubt about it. The 2 days continuous strike at the call of UFBU has been a roaring success. The participation has been so huge and massive. The turn out in the processions, rallies and demonstrations have been unprecedented. It was wholesome and overwhelming. Hats off to all our unions and members. You have done it again.

Our strike on 12th June was deferred because the IBA appeared to be positive and an agreement seemed possible. But the events thereafter have proved the designs of the Government and the bankers. Not only they went back on their offer, most shockingly, in the talks held as late as on 4-8-2009, they reduced their offer to 13%. They went back on the understandings on pension option as already agreed upon and informed further that the revised scheme on compassionate ground appointment/financial compensation scheme as mutually worked out cannot be implemented. They went back on all the issues and made a mockery of the negotiations held so far. It was obvious that the Government was calling the shots from behind. Hence, there was no alternative for the UFBU than to go ahead with the strike action. The last minute conditional offer of IBA could not be accepted by the UFBU. The employees and officers rightfully showed their resentment and anger over the IBA/Government going back on their offer and commitments. The insult and humiliation was befittingly answered by this strike.

About our strike, some newspaper editorials condemned the strike; the Corporates were furious; the Government was unhappy; the banking public were no doubt inconvenienced. But who was responsible for this ? UFBU served the strike notice on 16-7-2009. But IBA held the talks only on 4-8-2009 just one day prior to the strike. And if the bankers and Government go back on their commitments and offers, what do we do ? Can we keep quite ? Hence strike was the answer.

Our strike could not be ignored. The press and media conceded that the strike was total and full. The issue was raised both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the Parliament. Sri. Sanjiva Reddy, Sri. Gurudas Dasgupta, Sri. Basudev Acharya, Sri. Mulaym Singh Yadav, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Sri. Sharad Yadav, Sri. R C Singh, Sri. Tapen Sen and many other leaders took up our cause. We are thankful to them.

Emergent Conciliation Meeting: In the background of the total resentment of the bank employees and officers and the massive success of our strike, the Government had to move in and the Chief Labour Commissioner, Ministry of Labour, Government of India convened a meeting today (07-Aug-09) at 3-00 PM in his office in Delhi.

IBA was represented by Sri Ramakrishnan, Chief Executive, Mr. Unnikrishnan, Dy. Chief Executive and Mr. Venugopal, Officer on Special Duty. UFBU was represented by leaders of our constituent unions.

In this meeting, the IBA informed that they have reconsidered the matter and made the following offer as a package:

1. Increase in wages: 17.5 % increase over the establishment expenses of Banks as on 31-3-2007.

2. New Pension Scheme to be introduced to new entrants with effect from 1-4-2010.

3. The existing PF optees may be given another option for pension as per understanding reached between IBA and UFBU on 9th June, 2009 when it was agreed that the employees would share Rs. 1800 crores out of Rs. 6000 crores funding gap identified in the joint actuarial valuation subject to the condition that at the time of the next settlement again another actuarial valuation will be carried out and the funding gap so arrived at would be shared in the ratio of 30% by the employees and 70% by the management.

4. Compassionate appointment issue would be discussed separately.

After discussing the above offer of the IBA within the UFBU meeting, it was informed to the CLC and IBA that while taking note of the offer, the Unions need further clarifications and discussions and hence suggested a bipartite meeting for the same. CLC suggested that the IBA and UFBU may hold bipartite discussions at the earliest. The date of bipartite talks will be fixed up at the earliest.

Further developments will be informed to unions and members in due course.

CLC-UFBU MEETING – DELHI – 07.08.2009

The Chief Secretary, IBA, Shri Ramakrishnan, attended on behalf of the management and submitted that after reconsideration IBA proposed to revise offer as a package in toto as under.

1. Increase in wage -17.5% increase in the establishment expenses over the establishment expenses of banks as on 31.03.2007.

2. New Pension Scheme to be introduced to new entrants with effect from 1.4.2010.

3. The existing PF optees may be given another option for pension as per understanding reached between IBA and UFBU on June 9, 2009 when it was agreed that the employees would share Rs.1800 crores out of Rs.6000 crores funding gap identified in the joint actuarial valuation subject to the condition that at the time of the next settlement again another actuarial valuation will be carried out and the funding gap so arrived at would be shared in the ratio 30% by the employees and 70% by the management. The representatives of the management added that compassionate appointment issue will be discussed separately.

Convenor of UFBU submitted on behalf of the UFBU that while taking the note of the offer of the management, the constituent unions need further clarifications on certain issues. UFBU suggested that IBA may fix up a Bipartite meeting at the earliest for the purpose.

CLC[C] suggested that parties may hold a Bipartite discussion as early as possible. The next date of conciliation proceedings will be fixed after hearing from the parties.

Talks fail; bank unions stick to strike plan

K.R. Srivats

New Delhi, Aug. 4 Bank unions have decided to go ahead with their two-day nationwide strike on August 6 and 7 after their bilateral talks with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the conciliatory talks under the aegis of the Chief Labour Commissioner failed on Tuesday.

The talks failed after the IBA further pruned its wage increase offer to 13 per cent and also made it clear that it cannot offer the existing pension scheme to those public sector bank officers and employees who had in the mid-nineties opted for provident fund as their second retirement benefit, after gratuity.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), a representative body of nine unions, had urged the IBA to provide another option for about 3,00,000 employees to move from the provident fund scheme to the pension scheme.

“IBA today went back on its earlier offer and informed us that if at all an offer is to be made, it will be a reduced alternative pension scheme and cannot be the existing pension scheme. This is a major setback as we were hoping that the 2,50,000 employees and 50,000 persons who had retired will get another chance to opt for the existing pension scheme,” Mr C.H. Venkatachalam, UFBU convenor, told Business Line.

After months of negotiations, the IBA and the UFBU had agreed to appoint an actuary/consultant to arrive at the quantum of outgo to the banks if the 3 lakh people who had opted for the provident fund scheme were to be given another chance to shift to the pension scheme. The actuarial estimate of the liability stood at Rs 17,000 crore, of which the PF accumulations of these employees stood at Rs 11,000 crore.

The gap of Rs 6,000 crore had to be filled. The managements were asked to fork out Rs 4,200 crore and the employees were game to bring in additional Rs 1,800 crore. However, with the Government intervening in the wage talks, the IBA had toughened its stance on both the wage hike front as well as the pension option front, sources close to the developments said.

IBA had initially agreed to offer 17.5 per cent hike in wages, but later brought it down to 15 per cent. Now, the latest offer is for 13 per cent. The wage revision of public sector bank officers and employees is due from November 2007.