BIPARTITE DISCUSSIONS WITH IBA - 11.05.2009

As quoted in http://www.aiboa.org/

"

• IBA informed that we have to finalise the details in regard to the following:

• Wage revision - they are prepared to hike the offer to 15%

• On the issue of pension IBA stated that it is a package and unless the New Pension Scheme is accepted, other issues can not be discussed.

• On Compassionate appointment Govt. had informed that even the restricted retrospective effect can not be considered.

UFBU has rejected the negative proposals of IBA and informed that the wage offer is meagre.

New Pension Scheme can not be accepted.

UFBU meets this afternoon to decide the future course. Await UFBU circular for details"

Bank unions to decide next move on March 5

BS Reporter / Bhubaneswar March 02, 2009, 0:40 IST

With the ninth bipartite wage settlement of bank employees ending inconclusively and the Union finance minister not giving any concrete assurance on revision of salaries, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine bank unions in India, has decided to meet in Chennai on March 5 to decide its future course of action.
"UFBU has decided to meet in Chennai on March 5 to decide on their future course of action. In that meeting, we will take a call on whether the bank employees across the country would go for a strike to press for their demands," said G D Nadaf, general secretary, All India State Bank Officers' Federation (AISBOF).
He was speaking at the annual general body meeting of the Orissa circle of the State Bank of India (SBI) Officers' Association.
UFBU had approached the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on February 27 after the ninth bipartite wage settlement of bank employees ended inconclusively on February 22.
While the finance minister said that the code of conduct of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in the country would not be a deterrent in announcing the salary revision for bank officers, he did not give any concrete assurance on the issue, said Nadaf.
The ninth bipartite wage settlement of bank employees across the country ended inconclusively in Mumbai after the UFBU spurned the offer made by the Indian Bank Association (IBA). IBA had offered only 13 per cent hike in salaries as against 30 per cent demanded by UFBU.
Besides revision in wages, the bank employees have demanded introduction of the pension scheme for the employees and re-introduction of compensatory appointment in the banking sector.
Speaking on the occasion, G Muthuswamy, general secretary, SBI Officers Association (Bangalore circle), said, "The officers of SBI work under intense pressure and there is no manpower planning by the bank management. The management should lay emphasis on proper manpower planning for optimum utilisation of its human resources."
A K Motayad, secretary, Orissa Unit of All India Bank Officers' Confederation said, "Apart from salary revision, we should also demand better service conditions so that we live a life of dignity and are able to spend quality time with our families. We want a respectable pay revision with regulated working hours and other non-financial benefits."

Bank staff to take up wage issue with PM

BS Reporter / Berhampur February 23, 2009, 0:59 IST

With the ninth bipartite wage settlement meeting of bank employees ending inconclusively in Mumbai on Saturday, the aggrieved United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine unions, has decided to take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. In case talks with the PM and FM fail, bankers will go on a nationwide strike in March, the union leaders said.

The talks failed when UFBU rejected the offer made by the Indian Bank Association (IBA) to increase the wages by only 13 per cent as against the demanded 30 per cent.

“While we had asked for a 30 per cent increase in wages, IBA offered only a 13 per cent hike,” said T Ravindranath, an UFBU leader and general secretary of All India Andhra Bank Award Employees’ Union (AIABAEU).

B S R Mohan Reddy, chairman, AIABAEU, said, “We have rejected the offer and demanded a 30 per cent increase in wages, considering all aspects including the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission for government employees.”

Talks with IBA (11.02.2009)

As quoted on AIBEA's webpage

Another round of discussion was held today between IBA and UFBU. The IBA was led by Mr. M. V. Nair, Chairman of the Negotiating Committee, while UFBU was represented by our constituent unions.

1. Pension Option : In today’s meeting IBA informed that the report of the common actuaries relating to the additional cost for extending pension option to the past retirees from 1996 has been received which has identified an additional net liability of around Rs. 3,000 crores. IBA indicated that the issue can be resolved on the same basis as will be finalised for the existing PF optees who are in the banks’ service. It was decided to discuss the issue further.

However, IBA insisted that the new employees who will henceforth join the banks should be governed by the new pension scheme as has been implemented by the Government for new employees from 2004. From UFBU, we vehemently objected to this condition and demanded that the future employees should also be governed by the existing pension scheme.

In view of the divergent views on the matter, it was decided to discuss the matter further in the next round of meeting.

Regarding sharing of the additional cost, from UFBU we maintained our earlier stand that Rs. 1,500 crores can be borne by us while the balance by the banks. The IBA, while informing that they would like to resolve the issue by discussion, did not indicate any further offer than that was made in the last meeting.

2. Wage Revision : In this meeting, from UFBU we emphasized the need for a substantial increase in the offer made by the IBA. After discussion, IBA came forward to offer an increase in wages of Rs. 3,600 crores for the employees and officers put together as against Rs. 2,750 crores offered in the last round of discussion. We stated that the offer of IBA needs to be further improved substantially.

Preceding this discussion, in the morning session the IBA had another round of discussion with the workmen unions regarding streamlining the Special Pay Post in the emerging context of CBS system in the bank branches. It was agreed to discuss the matter further. Regarding IBA’s demand for a provision to dispense with the employees above the age of 50 years without holding any departmental enquiry in public interest, the same was rejected by the unions and IBA agreed not to insist on the same.

It has been decided that very shortly further round of discussions will take place on the above issues with a view to find an early and amicable resolution of our demands.

With greetings,

Yours Comradely,

Sd/-


C.H. VENKATACHALAM

CONVENER

PSU Bank staff to get pension in new regime

After years of wrangling, public sector bank employees are set to get a comprehensive pension benefit.

All employees of public sector banks are likely to be brought under the pension benefit with the implementation of a new wage formula, which is currently under discussion.

At present 2.5 lakh employees who are covered under the provident fund net do not enjoy pension benefits. The move could mean an additional cost of Rs 6,000 crore for state-owned banks.

The managements and trade unions are yet to sort out how the additional burden would be sourced and shared.

A meeting on the issue is scheduled to be held between the Indian Banks Association and the trade unions on Wednesday.

“We are trying to bring all bank employees under the pension net and the management and employees both would be required to share and shoulder the additional burden,” C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) told p.

Maligned for decades after the government nationalised several banks between 1969 and 1978, public sector banks have since grown in size and branch network.

The employees who were considered high cost and inefficient amid a wave of computerization that spread through the global banking industry in the 1980s are suddenly on strong ground because the balance sheets of Indian public sector banks are looking good in contrast to crisis-hit banking giants of the West.

Employees may get a hike of about 15 per cent or more with all public sector banks standing tall. Most banks have already made a provision for the increased wages. Depending on the size of the banks, the additional outflow due to the increased wages is likely to between Rs 150 crore and Rs 500 crore.

Industry sources said that negotiations on revision of wages have already reached the final stages and an announcement on a settlement may well be made before the general elections.

New Delhi, February 10, 2009