Coming soon: Far more attractive compensation package for public sector bank employees

Attractive pay packages: PSU bank Employees to get

higher bonus, ESOPs, says Bank Board Bureau Chief

New Delhi, January 5 (IANS): Public sector banks (PSBs) will have far more attractive pay packages with increased bonus, Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) and other performances-linked variables in 2017-18, Bank Board Bureau Chairman Vinod Rai said on Thursday.

"By next fiscal we are looking at a far more attractive package for public sector banks with bonus, ESOPs, performance linked variables -- monetary or non-monetary benefits to make it more attractive for professionals to enter PSBs," Rai said here at the 97th Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) Foundation Day. "We may not be able to change the fixed income but we are looking at making the variable part of the package more attractive," he added.

The compenation package of the PSBs needs to be improved in some way, he added. Rai said that the government is also looking at appointing full-time director or executive director in the PSBs, apart from the post of chairman and managing director (CMD). The executive director or director post is being thought of so that he can be held accountable for the decisions taken at the bank, he said. "Those people will be appointed who have at least six or more years of service remaining," Rai said.

The Bank Board Bureau is also working upon the proposal of formation of the government stake in the PSBs into a holding company, which will be run by professionals and will make selections of directors and CMDs for the bank. "Over a period of time, the PSBs may go into mergers," he added. In order to manage the non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banks, Rai said that he was looking at a scenario wherein the banks are run by boards, who take the risk of decision-making.

"We are trying to collate people who will be willing to join the boards of PSBs. Effort is to ensure that the banks are indeed run by boards comprising of professionals," he said. He also spoke of formation of an oversight committee for both private and public sector banks which will help the banks resolve their bad loan cases. "The attempt is to provide an oversight committee of two people to whom cases will be sent to resolve the processes. The case then has to come back to the board because ultimately the bank has to take the decision," he said.

"This is to provide comfort to the banks," he added. Calling for certain degree of transparency in decision making, he said that every organisation should be able to withstand the test of scrutiny. "We are going to be in an audit from all strata of society. All governments and corporates should be able to withstand that audit," he added.

10th Bipartite Pay scale Finalized today

10th Bipartite Pay scale Finalized today

:: Scale of pay finalized::
Clerks: 11765 to 31540
Substaff: 9560 to 18545
(20 stages)

::8 STAGNATION increments.
5 once in 3 years and
3 once in 2 yrs -

 ::8th stag. Inc. w.e.f.1.5.2015

 :: DA - 0.10% per slab


 :: HRA - 10%, 9% and 7.50%
(Only 3 areas. 3rd and 4th clubbed)

 :: Transport - upto stage-15  - 425
stage 16 & above - 470

:: Medical - 2200

:: Spl Allowance @ 7.75% of Basic with DA thereon -

::Settlement may be signed on 25th.

10th Bipartite Pay scale Finalized today

10th Bipartite Pay scale Finalized today

:: Scale of pay finalized::
Clerks: 11765 to 31540
Substaff: 9560 to 18545
(20 stages)

::8 STAGNATION increments.
5 once in 3 years and
3 once in 2 yrs -

 ::8th stag. Inc. w.e.f.1.5.2015

 :: DA - 0.10% per slab


 :: HRA - 10%, 9% and 7.50%
(Only 3 areas. 3rd and 4th clubbed)

 :: Transport - upto stage-15  - 425
stage 16 & above - 470

:: Medical - 2200

:: Spl Allowance @ 7.75% of Basic with DA thereon -

::Settlement may be signed on 25th.

Bank wage talks ends in stalemate Four-day strike between February 25 and 28

Coimbatore, February 3:  Not satisfied with the 0.5 per cent increase in the offer made by the Indian Banks' Association, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has decided to revive the strike programme.

The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said that the unions have issued a strike call to its members for a four-day strike between February 25 and 28.

This is expected to be followed by an indefinite strike from March 16

Why one day strike and then 4 days strike?

AIBOC reveal in their circular ..........

Comrades, we have been receiving lot many queries about the decision of single day strike of 7th January, 2015.
 We would like to inform the background which led to the decision of one day strike.
 IBA, vide their Letter No. CIR/HR & IR/XBPS-1/996 dated 2nd December, 2014,
had advised the member banks to update their respective Boards on the present status 
of the wage negotiations developments, its financial implications and if felt necessary,
 revisit the mandate. 

This being a very serious development was discussed in the Working Committee Meeting of Confederation held on 8th December, 2014, at Delhi. 
The Central Office drafted a letter and sent to all its Affiliates for onward submission 
to the Management of the respective Banks to thwart IBA’s tactics of delaying Wage Revision 
and also to obviate the possibility of tinkering with the earlier mandate. 
It was also decided that the same stand would be taken by our Representatives on the boards, 
when the agenda comes for discussion. 

Comrades, this indeed is a very grave development which cannot be ignored. 
The UFBU Constituents met in Mumbai, on 17th December, 2014, subsequent to conciliation talks.
 One of the constituent of UFBU apprised of having taken a decision to call for one day strike 
on this issue and wanted other constituents to join the strike.

 We expressed our view and apprehensions over the effectiveness of one day strike, 
as the issue would have been placed and discussed in many Bank’s Boards by then. 
Since the Affiliate was firm to go on one day strike in first week of January, 2015, 
UFBU decided to observe the strike on 7th January, 2015, for the sake of solidarity 
and to avoid any confusion. 

Comrades, the call of four days strike from 21st to 24th January, 2015 is unprecedented 
and unheard in the history of Banking Industry as a whole. 
The dates are preceding two holidays as 25th January being Sunday and 
26th January a National Holiday. 
Consequently, the Banking will come to a grinding halt for six days. 
Our membership have long being demanding an action like this, but comrades, 
for winning a bigger battle, many small wars have to be won. 
A lot of preparations are required to be undertaken for making our call a tremendous success. 
A thorough action programme is required to be chalked out for preparation at the grass root level. 
Let each one of us make it a mission to make the strike call a huge success 
so that its impact shakes the walls of apathy of the higher authorities. 
This is our fervent appeal to each member of ours, to implement 
all the joint agitational calls given by UFBU religiously.

Wage pact: bank unions for long-haul agitation

Thiruvananthapuram, December 18: The United Forum of Bank Unions, which has been negotiating with the Indian Banks’ Association for wage revision in the banking sector for the past two years, has decided to go on an indefinite nationwide strike from March 16.

The decision was taken by the top decision-making body of the UFBU following breakdown of yet another round of conciliation in the presence of the Central Government’s Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner in Mumbai on Wednesday. “We have decided to go on all-India indefinite strike from March 16,” MV Murali, convenor of the nine-union UFBU, told BusinessLine. “Before that, the unions will go on a four-day national strike from January 21; and on January 7, there will be a one-day strike.”

The UFBU’s tough stand follows the logjam in the talks for a five-year wage agreement after a dozen rounds of negotiations between UFBU and the negotiating team of the IBA, which represents the managements of the public- and private-sector banks in the country. Murali said that on Wednesday, the conciliation talks between the team led by IBA’s Deputy CEO K Unnikrishan and UFBU leaders ended in an impasse as the IBA stuck to its guns and there was no forward movement on the demands made by the unions. The IBA was willing to raise wages in the banking industry by only 11 per cent.

‘Delaying tactics’

AK Ramesh Babu, President of the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), a member of the UFBU, told BusinessLine that the January 7 strike was an ‘immediate response’ to the highly objectionable ‘delaying tactics’ of the IBA. The IBA had now come up with a new condition that it needed the mandate of the board of directors of all individual banks in the IBA for making any further concessions on wage revision. It had sent circulars to individual bank boards asking them to ‘review the mandate.’

According to Vishwas Utagi, General Secretary, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, bank managements are stonewalling employee demands for a wage hike citing profitability constraints, the need to shore up capital to meet new Basel III norms, and provisioning burden due to stressed loans. “Bank employees are not responsible for the bad loans that have accumulated in the banking system. In fact, they have helped banks grow their business and profitability. So, there is no reason why bank managements should deny our demands.”

10th Bipartite Update

Today (17.12.2014) UFBU hold an internal meeting with its constituents in Mumbai and took following decisions :
→ One Day Strike on 7th January
→ Four Days strike from 21st to 24th January
→ Indefinite Strike from 16th March onwards
More details soon. Bankers, prepare for battle. What we all were demanding, as UFBU have came up with it.

Talks on wage revision between IBA and UFBU at Mumbai on 17.12.2014

Conciliation meeting on 17.12.2014

Latest news:
Conciliation meeting is arranged by
Labour commissioner at 11.30 AM
at Mumbai on 17.12.2014 for
Talks on wage revision between IBA and UFBU.
******************************
Previous news:

BEFI Circular dt.08.12.2014 says........

the next meeting of UFBU has been slated to be held on 
17th this month at Hyderabad to take stock of the situation and 
to decide upon further course of action depending upon developments. 

Let us all await the decision of UFBU and prepare ourselves 
for carrying forward the struggle, as may be so decided, 
with courage, conviction and zeal.
Get prepared for intensified struggle ahead.