We are giving below an email received by us from Mr. Ganapathi Subramanian, which he intended to be published before the meeting of UFBU on 19th February, but the same could not be uploaded as it was received late.  However, for records, we are uploading the same :

"The UFBU is meeting at Mumbai on 19.02.2014 to discuss and decide on the further course  of action.  This meeting has been called for in the backdrop of a nation-wide two day strike, after which the negotiation meeting fixed on 13.02.2013 was postponed as the Chairman of  the IBA’s  Negotiating Committee left abroad without bothering about the earlier appointment.  This by itself is a well calculated snub for the UFBU.  Then comes the erudite FM on the scene, who declares nonchalantly that “All profits of the banks cannot  be used for paying higher wages”,  and the ever obedient media catches on to his words to paint a darker picture of the bank employees, short of stating that we are  the villains coming in the way of economic development of the nation and uplifting  the masses.

These two instances, though apparently separate, clearly indicate that neither the IBA nor the Govt care a hoot for the UFBU and its negotiating team.  Thus a marked disregard for the process of bipartite arrangement  established in the late ‘60s has become apparent.  If this is not countered by UFBU through appropriate counter measures  without any further waste of time, then they will only end up sealing the fate of the lakhs of serving bank employees , besides making the career in banking an unattractive  proposition for the future generation. 

Two years ago,  Shri Pannvalan raised the concept of pay parity with govt officials through the portal of ABS. His extensive write-ups and analysis showed how much  we have lost over the years .  There were many skeptics here who wondered how we could equate ourselves with the govt officials, who belong to a superior pedigree.  Those who joined in the late ‘70s are familiar with the Pillai Committee Recommendations, which put the salary of bank officers on par with Group A officers of the govt.  But not many of the bank employees are aware that  similar pay parity was granted to the workmen more than 60 years ago.   After dusting  out the Sastry Award & Desai Award from my extensive collection, I could locate those beneficial provisions and for the first time, it was revealed  by me through the Face Book  groups.

For construction of a wage scale, there should be a basis or starting point, like prevailing wages in similar or comparable employment, the capacity of the industry to pay etc.   In the case of bank employees, the Sastry Award of 1953, provided this justification through the following paragraphs and the same basis was also upheld and adopted by the subsequent Desai Award of 1962.  The following are these provisions :

Para 252 of Sastry Award:[On the principle of prevailing rates of wages]:" .... The rates of pay in certain departments of Government such as Posts & Telegraphs and in State Governments will also furnish material for the construction of pay scale for bank workmen. Above all we have the report of the Central Pay Commission which is now considered an authoritative and useful guide to problems relating wage determination at least among Government employees. There are several affinities between bank workmen and Government clerks, bank subordinates and Government menials. The Central pay Commission had before them the very same clerical class and the class below it."

Para 259 of Sastry Award: " In the matters of education, intelligence, social needs, family responsibilities, standards of living and outlook on life there is a fair degree of similarity between the clerks that work in a bank and those that work in a Government department............We may nevertheless take the Government pay scales as an indication, however rough, of how the clerical class in general should be remunerated......"

Para 5.181 of Desai Award: " Having considered all aspects of the matter, I am of the view that to the extent that prevailing rates of wages in similar occupations in the same localities play a part in fixation of wages, the workmen have made out a case for an upward revision of their emoluments".

In this context,  the frank approach of AIBOC deserves appreciation.  In their Circular 2014-08, they have gone on record that : ”  dilution in our salaries vis a vis Government Officials has taken place over a period starting from 1982 and gap has widened with successive settlements.”  But the continued silence of the workmen unions on the issue of pay-parity makes one wonder if they do not want their members to know anything about the provisions Sastry & Desai Awards. 

Shri Pannvalan has very often raised through this portal, the following queries:

1. Are we not entitled to receive 6th CPC scales (implemented with effect from 01-01-2006) at least from 01-11-2012, i.e. after a delay of 7 years?

2. Are we in pay parity with the Central govt scales(6th CPC of 2006) at the time of the last bipartite?

3. Will the 30% increase demanded by UFBU put us in parity with the govt employees or still we will be in deficit?

4. What will happen to us on 01-01-2016 from which date 7th CPC scales will come to force, even if we get a 30% increase?

In the aftermath of the aforementioned frank admission of AIBOC, coupled with the provisions of Sastry Award & Desai Award,  these queries raised by Shri Pannvalan assume a paramount significance and emphasise the urgent need to secure the pay-parity for the bank employees vis a vis the govt employee.  So, for the first time, I decided to bring these Award provisions in Public and did this through the prominent FaceBook group Bank Wage Revision-2012 frequented by the younger generation of bank employees.  This was done four weeks ago, and to this date, none of the UFBU functionaries or their deputies who frequent the facebook , could provide a satisfactory answer.

No doubt, the UFBU has got an uphill task.  The advent of social media has ensured that members are not going to be tolerant with the old ways of opaque discussions on the wage front with the IBA.  With the younger generation demanding a pay-parity coupled with 5 day working and transparency in discussions,  there are indications aplenty pointing out to the  hard days ahead.   But hard times need equally  harder decisions that differentiates men from boys.  

Shri Kamlesh Chaturvedi ji, the veteran leader from Lucknow has made quite a few interesting suggestions in his facebook page , which I too endorse.

(1)    UFBU must now serve a notice on IBA scrapping the Pension Settlement dated 29.10.1993 as also 27.04.2010 demanding uniform Pension to each and every bank employee whether old or new and thereby rectifying the sin committed in the past by linking pension to profits as also allowing division of bank employees. It must add the demand of Pension updation in line with Central Govt. Employees and disbursement of pension through treasury. This will ensure unity of purpose inducting and inducing new employees who are subjected to NPS and have been forced to bear pension cost as also attracting old retired employees who crave for pension updation. This way we would involve experience of old bank employees coupled with vigor and enthusiasm of young employees.

(2) UFBU must use new weapon of uninterrupted and continuous working by staying inside branches without food and rendering customer service till demands are accepted. Family members of the bank employees as also retired employees and their family members must also join the agitating employees. Use of this weapon would attract maximum media attention, would ensure involvement of each employee and would provide opportunity to trade union workers to discuss and elaborate the points of struggle as also to address the queries of bank employees and convincing them to put their everything for survival of trade union movement.

(3) Refuse to talk and negotiate unless and until FM and Chairman of the Negotiating Committee of the IBA offer unconditional apology.

(4) Place condition of no negotiations till pay parity is guaranteed.

The younger generation of aam bankers are ready even for an indefinite strike, because it is their career and prestige that is at stake. But at the same time they are in no mood to tolerate any betrayal or watering down of their genuine aspirations on pay-parity.  Now when  UFBU meets on Feb.19 to work out their further course of action, the aam bankers throughout the country eagerly await their deliberations and decisions. It is time for the UFBU to prove that they are men with nerves of steel  and not chicken-hearted  boys and to get us back the glorified status that we had lost three decades ago".