AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 85 DATED 02.11.2012

CIRCULAR NO.85                                          2nd November, 2012

TO ALL OUR AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

CHARTER OF DEMANDS SUBMITTED TO IBA

We reproduce hereunder the text of the UFBU Circular No.27 dated 31st October, 2012 contents of which are self-explicit.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(D.S.RISHABADAS)

GENERAL SECRETARY

TEXT

Yesterday, on 30th October, UFBU met the IBA for the purpose of submitting our Charter of Demands for revision of wages and improvements in our service conditions.  Leaders of all our 9 constituent unions were present.  IBA was represented by its Chairman Mr.K.R. Kamath along with Mr. T M Bhasin, Vice Chairman, IBA and CMD, Indian Bank, Mr.D Sarkar, CMD, Union Bank of India, Mr.S.L. Bansal, CMD, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Mr. Bhaskar Sen, CMD, United Bank of India, Mr. Syam Srinivasan, MD, Federal Bank, Mr. Balakrishna V Chaubal, SBI, Mr. Unnikrishnan, Dy. Chief Executive, IBA and Mr. Probir Moulik, Senior Advisor, HR&IR, IBA.

From our side, the respective common charter of demands of the Workman Unions viz. AIBEA, NCBE, BEFI, INEF, NOBW and of the Officers Associations viz. AIBOC, AIBOA, INBOC, NOBO were submitted.

Welcoming Mr.Kamath on his recent assumption as Chairman of IBA, the Convener hoped that under his stewardship, the demands submitted by the Unions would be considered favourably.  He pointed out to the alarming price rise and inflation and the resultant adverse impact on the real wages.  He also referred to the wage-level in other comparably sector and the justified need to substantially improve the wages in the banking sector. He urged upon the IBA to commence the negotiation early and conclude the settlement expeditiously.

Com. C.H.Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, Com.M.V. Murali, General Secretary, NCBE and other leaders of the constituent unions, in their observations,  referred to the  increased volume of business in the last five years, the various types of new services being undertaken by the  banking staff nowadays, the changing job profile of the staff,  the increasing responsibilities, risks and accountabilities, increased workload and pressure-levels, the need to maintain the integrity-level of the workforce by adequate wage compensation, the need to arrest attrition rate through better wages, etc.

 

Receiving our Charter of Demands and responding to our submissions, Mr.Kamath stated that IBA was fully conscious of the aspirations of the bank employees and expectations of the Unions.  Stating that the IBA was equally comfortable with bilateral discussions to resolve the issues, he urged upon the Unions to also keep in mind the various constraints of the Banks. He referred to the increasing cost of provisioning for pension, the stress on profitability, the need to improve the earnings of the Banks in order to sustain the increasing costs, etc.  He also stated that the various issues of the management raised and discussed during the last wage revision exercise and desired those issues to be resolved in the current process. He also informed that IBA would be constituting a Negotiating Committee with Mr.T.M.Bhasin as Chairman to examine our demands.

From our side, while assuring of our continued positive approaches, we reiterated our request to the IBA to commence the discussions on our demands at the earliest.

Comrades, wage revision constitutes a very important task of the trade unions.  Even though our demands are reasonable, there would be many difficulties in achieving our demands.  Our unity and united efforts alone would guarantee the expeditious conclusion of the settlement and a better deal for the bank employees and officers.

We will keep our unions and members informed of further developments in this regard.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(P.K.SARKAR)

CONVENOR