PROPOSED STRIKE BY SBI STAFF - DO SBI  UNIONS FAR BETTER WATCH  THE INTERESTS  OF THEIR MEMBERS THAN  PS BANK  UNIONS

BY

Danendra Jain  [ dkjain49709@gmail.com ]

 

 

Staff of SBI will go on strike on November 8 & 9, 2011 for better facilities and better treatment.

 

DEMANDED:

i) Allotment of own houses of officers on lease.
ii) A fair Fitment Formula on Promotion from clerical cadre to officers cadre.
iii) Repatriation of Officers to Parent Circles.
iv) Bilaterally settled transfer and ICT policies for officers up to SMGS-V.
v) Defined working hours to officers.
vi) Adequate compensation for late sitting and working on Holidays and Sundays.
vii) Periodical Bipartite meetings in Circles/NWs/Modules/Associate Banks.
viii) 5 day week.
ix) Compassionate Appointment/Fair compensation Formula.
x) Revision of Pension for 5th and 7th Bipartite Retirees and Revision in Commutation formula.
xi) Updation of Pension scheme.
xii) Enhancement of staff Housing Loan Ceiling.
xiii) Revision of conveyance reimbursement scheme.
xiv)Review of Disciplinary Procedures/Debarment Policy/Sealed Cover procedures, interpretation of penalty etc./independence of Enquiry officers.
xv) Extension of revised service conditions available in SBI to Associate Banks officers.
 

 

OPPOSED

i) Unilateral decisions in HR matters.
ii) Harassment of officers through vigilance proceedings invoking Rule 19(3) and imposing disproportionate penalties.
iii) Harassment to the officers in the name of ATM cash outs.
iv)Violation of transfer policy norms.
v) Misinterpretation of Service Rules.
vi) Violation of Inter Circles Transfer norms for SMGS-IV and Scale V

 

SBI staffs go on strike for benefit to staff whereas staffs of other public sector banks go on strike for serving the interest of some political party or some union leader or retired employees or stopping of merger or against privatization. Staff of PS banks had to pay money for getting second option of pension for which they resorted to strike many times.
 

 

It is true that there is frequent violation of transfer policies in PS banks in the name of exigencies of banks , actually as per whims of top executives. Working hours defined long ago has become a matter of history. Now bank officers in particular have to work at least from 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. They have to work on Sundays and holidays. In this way bank management get work from officers equivalent to at least for 150% of their defined working hours .Bank staff get hardly get 10% hike in their wages after five years and that too after resorting to frequent strike. During last five years business of each bank has at least trebled and they have opened hundreds of new branches but number of total staff has not gone up , rather come down. Obviously Banks are earning profit by resorting to exploitation of working class as private banks used to do before nationalization.

Bank staff are forced to work overnight, work on Sundays and holidays, leaves are not sanctioned, those who are not flatterers to bosses and those who do not support corruption of bosses are transferred to critical places, officers on promotion to scale II are transferred from east to far south and officers who do not provide illegal money or gifts to bosses are rejected in promotion process inspite of best performance whereas charge sheeted officers are promoted , interview is openly misused by executives to reject officers in promotion as per whims and fancies , union leaders are earning money in transfer , promotion and lending of money to customers and soon. Flattery and bribery is given full weightage in promotion processes and transfer chains and this is why bank staff are least interest in serving their customers or safeguarding their banks but indulged in serving their higher bosses.

Customers are no more God; Bosses are God not only in banking industry but practically in all government departments. Quality of manpower and quality of assets is no longer the target of top management in any bank or in any office or in any branch of any bank. Prime target is how to prove pleasant experience to bosses and not the bank customers when they visit their office or when they meet bosses in their offices. Yesmanism has become the guiding principle for all staff in all offices and this is why good employees are either isolated from mainstream or posted in remote and rural places in the name of government guidelines.

Union leaders never resort to strike for getting respect and due recognition for their members. They are least bothered for quality of lending or quality of infrastructure banks purchase and acquire. Even big value advances are sanctioned to bad borrowers to serve vested interest of sanctioning authorities which has resulted in unprecedented rise in gross bad assets of every bank. Profitability of banks is getting erosion year after year and which ultimately becomes a lame excuse for the government as also for IBA for not allowing reasonable rise in wages during Bipartite Settlement taking place every five years in Banking Industry.

Neither top management nor top union leaders are thinking for welfare of staff or their bank. They all are busy in making illegal money for themselves. They earn bribe money in recruitment of staff, transfer of staff, promotion of staff, contractual work ,purchase of goods , construction of premises and furnishing of premises ,sanction of loan, waiver of bad loan and they still they go up and up in career. Number of General Manager, DGMs and AGMs has considerably gone up but quality of management and control on assets has fallen sharply during last five to ten years.

For the first time Finance Minister taken cognizance of this disproportionate promotions taking place in executive cadre in banks and hence FM has suggested some restrictions and advised banks to stop promotions in higher scales for one year and to restrict promotions as per their business.

It is the first time that at least SBI has raised a few issues and made them reason for strike. SBI in the past too resorted to indefinite strike and got success in getting best wage revision, best hike, best amenities, quickest promotion, gives weightage to seniority, and so on. Bitter truth is that customers do not like the services of SBI but the business and especially of CASA of SBI grows due to government business which they get automatically from central government and state governments.

As a matter of fact most of trade union leaders in PS banks have become puppet in the hands of top management and top executives and this is why union leaders normally speak the language of executives forming part of powerful management. Union leaders instead of protecting their members threaten of dire consequences to their members more than management. Bank staffs in PS banks tolerate all injustices only because their union leaders called as protectors have turned their damagers in collusion with corrupt executives of bank management. This is one of several reasons that attrition rate in these banks is much more than other sector and unemployed youth do not want to join banks. Only those youth who do not get job anywhere due to their inherent weaknesses take a decision to join bank for their livelihood. Two three decades ago bank staff were getting respect in society and used to get respectable wage , even better than IAS and IPS officers. It will not be an exaggeration to say that it is union leaders who have equally contributed in spoiling the future of bank staff in nexus with top executives.

I therefore appeal to all bank loving employees to come forward, expose corrupt executives and save their banks. Strike for not wage hike but for respectful living, peaceful family life, and sound health and for good image in society. Bank employees are subjected to stressful life which results in so many diseases and hence they should fight against exploitation and not only for wage hike. Banke employees should safeguard bank’s assets and expose corrupt officials whose malicious intention causes growth in Non Performing Assets.

There is an old proverb, “If money is lost nothing is lost, health is lost something is lost and if character is lost everything is lost”.

 

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