Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 9: A demonstration of bank employees and officers was held here today under the banner of Jammu Province Bank Employees’ Federation (JPBEF), to oppose IBA’s shameful offer of 2% hike in wages of bank officials.
The demonstration was addressed by Arun Kumar Gupta, general secretary, JPBEF, who informed the gathering that at the impending expiry of 10th Bipartite wage settlement revision at the end of October 2017, the Government sent directives to banks as early as from 12/01/2016 advising them and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to commence the wage negotiations and conclude the same not later than November 2017. With the same intention to expedite the wage revision settlement, UFBU had submitted charter of demands to the IBA as early as May 2017.
Gupta said though the discussions by IBA with the UFBU commenced in May 2017 and 15 rounds of negotiations held by IBA with the Unions so far, IBA, one pretext or the other, had been avoiding to make any offer with regard to increase in wages. However, on May 6, 2018, IBA made their initial offer of 2% hike over the total Wage Bill as on 31/03/2017.
He said that IBA regretted their inability to improve their initial offer and hence UFBU outrightly rejected their offer and informed them that UFBU would resort to agitational programmes to press for adequate wage revision for the employees.
Ashwani Pradhan, general secretary, PNBOA, while addressing the gathering said that net profits are getting reduced only due to huge provisions for bad loans and not due to any reasons attributable to the employees and officers of the banks. Hence denying reasonable age revision for the bank employees and officers on this count is unfair, he added.
Meanwhile, officers and employees of all banks held a strong demonstration in front of Zonal office of State Bank of India (SBI), located at Rail Head Complex, Jammu. The speakers criticized the IBA for delay in wage settlement of bank officers and employees.
Addressing the protesting officers and employees, Suresh Wali, Deputy general secretary, State Bank of India Officers’ Association, Satish Khajuria, president, AIBOC, J&K and Shyam Lal Hans, president, State Bank of India Staff Association, Chandigarh Circle, warned the Government for intense agitation in the banking industry to achieve the respectable wage settlement and called upon the members to be ready for agitation in a short notice.
Satish Kumar Sharma, vice-president, AIBOC and Harinder Arora, assistant general secretary, SBIOA Jammu also spoke on the occasion.
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