10th Bipartite Settlement – Salary Revision / 5 Days Banking – Genuine Demand of Bankers- source BANKJOBSINDIA.NET
Introduction
The process of revising wages in the banking sector takes place once every 5 years and is done with mutual discussion between high command of bank employee unions UFBU (United Federation of Bank Unions) and high command of Bank Managements IBA (Indian Banks Associations). This process started in late 60’s and has seen 9 settlements signed to revise wages till 2010. The 10th bipartite settlement is due from 2012 November, and it does not seem like it will be signed soon, though 20 months have passed after the due date. Industry experts believe that this agreement may be signed on 2015 April, almost 2 1/2 years after due date. Till it is signed bankers will get the old wages i.e. the wages agreed for 2007-2012. Once, the tenth bipartite settlement is signed, the difference between old and new wage bill is given to bank employees as salary arrears.
Why Delay – The Real Reasons
• Central Government and IBA delay this settlement along with UFBU for making monetary gains, if settlement is delayed for a long time, bankers will get a big amount as salary arrears and this will increase the amount of tax they have to pay. Thus, it gives more tax revenue to the central government.
• For banks, this delay gets them an interest free recurring deposit i.e. In case banks do not delay settlement, they has to pay interest if they want the employees to deposit the extra amount they get every month due to new wages. But by delaying settlement and giving out arrears without interest they make huge profit.
• Though UFBU has the role to work against this delay, but they are full of people who don’t act in the right way. They are not ready to take severe actions like doing strike for a week or two during year end and quarter end. They also don’t do their strikes in a star hotel with press support. They do strikes in the roadsides and it does not make a strong impact.
• Most of youngsters don’t participate in strikes because of this and they plan for tours during strike and treat them as a leave without manager’s permission. In addition to this, these people who head the unions did not even submit their demands well before due date.
In short, UFBU leadership is not good and it’s time for a change. The central government and IBA were making full use of this situation to deny justice for bankers.
Expected Salary
The current scenario doesn’t look greener for bankers and thus to be practical the salary may be anywhere around Rs 50,000 take home for officers and Rs 25,000 take home for clerks, if the nightmares comes true. With 7th pay commission on the way, even a central government clerk will get more pay than Bank PO if the central government does not give justice to the sector. Though many bankers are hoping against the hope and continue to believe that the finance ministry will give them justice. If the same happens then the take home salary of bank officers will be Rs 70,000 and that of clerks will be Rs 35,000 . But practically, the pay is expected to be in between both the extreme cases. Thus, the take home pay of a probationary officer may be Rs 60,000 and that of a clerk may be Rs 30,000 after this settlement.
The proposal of scale merger may benefit officers at lower levels. This proposal intends to merge the first four scales (JMGS I, MMGS II, MMGS III, SMGS IV) of officer cadre in to one scale in the name of manager cadre and the next three scales (SMGS V, TEGS VI, TEGS VII) of officer cadre in to one scale in the name of executive cadre. If this happens, then the salary of JMGS I and SMGS V may go up considerably at the cost of other officers. Thus, it may increase the salary of probationary officer who comes under JMGS I.
5 Day Week
The concept of 5 day week is implemented in many countries. In India, it is implemented in RBI and many other government sectors. Bankers have been demanding this from the year 2000, but practically speaking getting five day week in banks doesn’t seem to happen even though it is a very reasonable demand. This is because, many business men in India are not ready to take the risk of having cash and they like to see the bank open even in Sundays and on festivals like Diwali. Also, the central government does not seem to give any justice for bankers in this regard. We (Bankers) need to take some strong steps and gather public support by educating them, if we want to get five day week. But again the old union leadership does not look like taking such aggressive steps. Thus, five day week is only a day dream.
Over Time
The concept of paying overtime is a labor law in many countries. Many developed countries ask employers to pay overtime pay if the employee works more than 40 hours a week. The over time rate is normally two to three times the normal pay, but this concept is not there in India as a law. Thus, many employers exploit employees by asking them to stay in the office for long hours. Public sector banks are no exception for this culture. Most managers have the wrong mentality that sitting late shows dedication and going home early is a crime. Thus, the unions have demanded overtime wages and a compensatory leave for working beyond the stipulated working hours. This will really boost the work life balance and salary of bank employees especially officers. But the chance of getting this demand amidst a poor effort from the old union leadership is low.
Pension
The bank unions have demanded pension with 100 percent neutralization of dearness allowance for all employees. This may be approved by the government. The bank unions also have asked the management to get back the controversial New Pension Scheme (NPS) and replace it with the old pension system. But this demand is not given much importance since the NPS affects only those who joined after the year 2010. Most of the union leaders are old so practically they won’t care for younger employees much. Thus, NPS is here to stay.
House Rent Allowance, Medical Facilities and Other perks
The Unions has asked for a big rise in the perks because of high inflation and the increase in the cost of obtaining these facilities. Though, the increase on this part of the salary may go hand in hand with the hike in cash component. If management gives a very good hike in the perks unions might agree for a low hike in cash component and vice versa.
Conclusion
Though the future is very bright for the young bankers, the overall picture is average at present and bankers need to stay awake to get a good settlement. The situation is worse for the youngsters at least till the retired employees are taken away from union leadership by protesting strongly against them.
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Thank you for bringing this to our attention! I know at our Bank Exam Training Centers in Chennai we are very considerate to other student views and beliefs.
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