Bank officers have sought need-based wage policy, not linking it to profitability of the banks or its paying capacity.
‘Negotiations on for two years’
G.V. Manimaran, general secretary of All India Nationalised Bank Officers Federation, told The Hindu that the wage negotiations between Indian Banks’ Associations and nine unions - four representing the officers and five representing the employees - is on for two years now.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed recently on some of the basic issues. However, the MoU did not address the demands of the officers.
Further, one union/association did not sign the agreement and two more claim that they were not privy to all the discussions and were forced to sign.
In such a situation, the legal validity of the MoU is under question. The MoU should be scrapped, he said.
Mr. Manimaran said that according to universal practice, the bank officers should get need-based pay that is not linked to the profitability or business of the bank. Since, the government has said that scale one bank officers are in the same rank as grade A officers of the government, their wages should be equal.
Further, increment should not be linked to the business of the banks. Finally, the pension paid should be updated regularly, he said.
These demands of the bank officers should be addressed, he added.
S. Jagathrakshakan, MP, has also written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently in this regard.
