UFBU: A Quarrel Club

UFBU: A Quarrel Club (Part 2)...By Sri J N Shukla Dena Bank
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In consolidation matter, Unions have failed to make this issue into a fruitful gain. This was an issue around which a lot of positives were, but unions miserably failed to capitalize anyone. Unions are an instrument of eminence. They must remain strong and led by leaders with clear understandings as to what are good or bad to banks and it's workforce. Changes are inevitable. We must be prepared for. However, every change has a gain tag. We must ask for our share in that gain tag.

Let us recall the days when computerization/mechanization was a prohibited fruit in banking, which Bankers placed before then leaders with the advantages and gains. The then  Union leaders bargained their share in said gains. Bankers pleasantly given that. One additional increment to all.

SBI service conditions are lucrative, so subsidiaries workforce was attracted to it. BOB has some better incentives, so VB/Dena people have a reason to maximize their gains. Merger is argued to be advantageous. It's management argument. We should have our points straight & simple as to what sort of advantages/ benefits the  employees/ officers are going to be entitled on account of merger? All stakeholders are going to settle their issues under merger scheme. Bank employees/officers are not on board. Unions miss fair opportunities, which leaders could have, if their unions have followed 'tactical' line. This 'tactical' line is very important, but important people, proponents of this line, have lost it to their head. Bank men are detatched from the process, so there is nobody to represent their side in such structural recast of banking, is a matter of great drawback.

Unions should have stood for merger. Resolution of issues depends on the capabilities of leaders. Bank employees look to them with confidence and see in them their future prosperity. Wages and service conditions depend in paying capacity of banks. Therefore, banks must remain in sound financial positions. Consolidation curtails expenditure ratio and brings higher productivity and surpluses. Most of small PSBs have no adequate businesses to earn surpluses.  We see them failing to address the causes of employees or the industry. We see their failure in telling the difficulties they find in carrying on their operations, since for them their operation is becoming uneconomical. We see them serving political masters and bear the brunts. Other side, unions take their members as granted. We find them totally away from hard realities that they have the obligation to  maintain the sanctity of master-servant relations. They miserably failed to read the nature of ownership of Banks, which is State in natural and sovereign in status. In olden days, when unions had clashes with their pvt owners, in that war, it was state that came to rescue. Now it's state, so there is nobody to come & mediate. Leaders failed to create independent rapport even with Addl Secretary level, leave ministers. Further, they have no cohesion at IBA level. All executives come from banks. All leaders come from banks. What's the relation between them. Our leaders pretend to be greater than the executives. It is attitudal problem. We never saw IBA fighting for employees issues, because our leaders never gave them space for good things. Just see the equation at RBI level.

Read 2 communiqués of RBI unions in recent past in pension revision issue. Further, see the efforts that RBI governing board, governor or Dy governors made to resolve their problem. They stood together against govt stand. Likewise we see in rail and other public sector undertakings. In all important government policies, we see protest salvos from unions. One union is totally doing it as from the lap of CPI. Govt is not a fool. Either you want your issues settled or deal with politics. Option is there. You can't change ownerships status of govt. so you have to live with them, whosoever may it be. Leaders can't make govt or dictate them. Clash is here. It is attitudal problem . Sometime I find short of understanding others knowledge and agree to as knowledge has no bound.

Merger & consolidation helps improve economies and operational viabilities. We are commercial banks. We must watch our interest. Just we should not side with freebies or support any act damaging system & management. We must try to realise the operating cost of products & services or ask govt to give credit in money terms through audits of free & concessional services rendered to poor class of people.

Leaders have all failings so far wages, allowances & service conditions are concerned. Bilateral system is taken as Unions greatest weakness.

 IBA is a interested party and there use to be conflict if interest. IBA is winner by all standard. Now entire approach & methodology need rethinking and some path breaking course is to be invented. Coming settlement shall cause more burns.

 Consolidation is genuine issue and in war even two giant forces combine. Administration or otherwise in host of issues, a few entities are better than large number of entities. See, how coop banks are functioning or sometime back 196 RRBs were. Since RRBs were consolidated into 56, they have come up well. They all turned into viable proposition. Now they are looking ahead further. In days to come they will further be reduced to 36 and one day they become one National Rural Bank, a sound entity. So, poor is one reason to protect.

Today, UFBU is a Quarrel Club. Contradictions prevail. There is fierce fight to hold hegemony. In fact, under UFBU award staff interests have been hugely jeopardized. Better, they look to it. Now, see how Pension updating issue is side tracked in the name of no unanimity among constituents. In private they blame others. They are unfair here. They unitedly killed pension revision and put their thumbs on a document, which completely deny and abandon pension as a genuine issue to discuss any more. The basis of contractual relationship is denied to by bankers and subscribed to by UFBU.
(Concluded)

Part 1 reproduced below



UFBU: A Quarrel Club
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Strange & shocking as well, the Bank employees are little bit confused or doing it deliberately?. Unions are there. They must exist. Unions are genuine instrument in an organised production or services, where individuals work. In Banking Unions exist from 1946 and now there are 9 unions operating in Banking. Bank employees confronting for resolutions of their issues in courts/ tribunals by middle of 1960s they reached to conclusion that the process of courts/tribunals was not effective to reach at desired settlements. The verdicts were never wholesome to the satisfaction of unions or employees. It were always partial and in pieces. There was no end of disputes. Therefore, in  a thoughtful decision, AIBEA decided to no more courts/ tribunals forums and insisted upon Bankers to come to negotiating table. It worked out well and first such bipartite settlement was signed in 1966. A new era started to feel contended and proud of to have the negotiated wages & service conditions. It helped both, employees & Banking to have a peaceful industrial relations, beneficial to both.

It's long journey of bilaterism. It went on deepening. At Bank level too, it worked wonderfully.

However, now a different situation has developed, where employees/officers across the industry are most unsatisfied lot with regard to outcomes of their own Unions. Now, they feel the bilaterism has become their Unions' weakness, well, situation exploited by Bankers to their best advantages, as an end result. For the first time we saw the vociferous opposition to bilateral settlement &  demand of Pay Commission for banking wages.

In 1970s Bank employees had the privilege of better paid lot than their government counterparts. Now bank employees are trailing far behind and this they attribute to poor settlements where their said privileged position has been compromised. They blame their leaders and now don't mind to call them thief, corrupt, greedy etc. They believe, they suffer because their Unions are wedded to political nexus that too of no political relevance. They hold the view that their Unions sacrifice their interest at the alter of  political necessities of their political masters. 

Being government undertakings, if politically sponsored programs are carried out by Unions, it would invite govt displeasure. Unions alike to their political mentors hate existing govt. This very attitude prohibits them to see the bank employees interests, instead they just try to score their political agenda. Many of their actions have been totally confined to this.

Seldom they have raised an issue, which in fact mattered for banking & bank employees. They opposed merger of SBI associates, but failed utterly. They failed to make out a strong case against Associate Banks merger or offered an alternative. They failed twice in this regard.

Further, they failed to take follow-up actions on Joint Notes dated 25.5.2018 in Pension related issues. The Bank employees amis not to know reasons, if any, for such conspicuous silence by 9 constituents of UFBU. By the way, one Union in October, 2015 is seem to have written a letter to IBA in JN matter with an urge to invite UFBU and hold discussion. UFBU had never wrote or approached IBA or had any conclave of its constituents to discuss issues listed in JN. JN has been taken as a certificate from IBA where in it has been stated that bank pensioners have no Contractual relations with their respective Banks. Well, JN dated 25.5.2018 closed/ shattered/buried the Pensioners hopes of pension updating.

To oppose Amalgamation, merger, acquisition is a theorem totally based on vested interests. It has nothing to do with the welfare of banks or all  its stakeholders. One question as to what's most important: number of Banks or strong Banks under Public Sector? Was it wrong to demand consolidation of PSBs in 1980s? Ills then existed how could now be taken as virtues today? If the line followed today is correct, then the line initiated in 1980s were wrong? Consolidation of general insurance companies immediately after their nationalization was wrong? If you deem amalgamation as wrong, then why you demand or welcome RRBs consolidation? How did you justify acquisition of failing Private Banks by PSBs? Didn't it smacks of a conspiracy in itself to have dubious stand & approach in an important organizational/ structural set up of PSBs?

In case a private bank fails or falls, immediate demand uses to be merger. New Bank of India was about to collapsed, it was merged; unions who mattered welcomed it. Two giants had  their problems, so one of them used New Bank's leader Shahney and pushed him against other top leader of PNB. This clash prolonged.

By those days, the bank level unions had gained financial strength and Prabhatkar, mentor of PSBs consolidation was no more. So, all leaders in Banks-they have their Jamindaries and hereafter further merger was described as very soar fruit. Vital interest was compromised by Unions, just keep their hegemony. Now all bank wise Unions have their hegemony. Leaders want their empire safe & intact.

Today, 11 PSBs are under PCA. They are prohibited from lending, core activity. I take it as an instruction to roll back these banks from operational market. We all shall agree that the banks put on prohibition mode, PCA, would continue loose their market share. Further, hope we remember the joint memorandum management- employees-officers unions have signed a year back making therein certain commitments and in failing authorising the government/RBI to take requisite steps they feel necessary. All banks under PCA had given it. All unions did it, of course under concurrence of their parent organizations. The Conditions, as set out in memorandum were rigorous. None of the PCA banks are turning up in any parameters. They are languishing under PCA since 2014.

According to agreed terms in memorandum, now RBI/Govt is moving. We must read the situation in right perspective.
( To be Concluded)