As many as 20,000 people, including top leaders of employee unions, politicians and academicians participated in a mahamorcha organised by All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) in New Delhi. AIBOC is the apex trade union organisation of bank officers' in the country representing over 3.20 lakh members.
Soumya Datta, general secretary of AIBOC in a statement says, "The rally is a message to the policy makers that we are connected to 80 crore populace of the country and will play the role of a formidable opinion maker in the ensuing parliamentary election. AIBOC will leave no stone unturned to ensure that all its demands are met and to that end will not dither in intensifying our struggle against the central government."
The morcha was organised for pending bipartite wage agreement, to oppose merger of Vijay Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda, and merger plans of regional rural banks. "AIBOC strongly condemns the stand adopted by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on the pending bipartite wage negotiations. IBA has disregarded the majority member banks, which have submitted 'unconditional mandate' for the bipartite negotiations, and refused to negotiate for the entire officer community on the pretext that that five banks have submitted a 'fractured mandate'."
"We also denounce the haste with which the government continues to defy all guidelines in trying to push through the merger of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda despite knowing fully well that the merger between State Bank of India (SBI) and associate banks proved it beyond doubt that such an exercise would be an exercise in futility and not even qualify to be called a 'financial engineering'. Further, the merger plan of RRBs is also equally condemnable with no perceptible gains to the economy but will definitely pose hurdles and difficulties to the ordinary farmers and artisans," Mr Datta added.
Demanding scrapping of National Pension System (NPS), the unions requested restoration of defined pension scheme. It says, "As the NPS is completely dependent on the equity and money market, it is a gross injustice that the proposed pension payable to the newly recruited officers and employees are now being completely left to the vagaries market forces. Preparations are also on to form a broad coalition with all fraternal organisations to launch a national level movement to abolish NPS in all sectors."
Here are the 11 points for which the mahamorcha was organised...
- Opposing the proposed merger/amalgamation of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda.
- Opposing the merger of regional rural banks (RRBs).
- Demanding scrapping of new pension scheme (NPS) and restoration of defined pension scheme.
- Demanding updation of pension and revision of family pension.
- Protesting the retrograde decision of Catholic Syrian Bank management to reduce the retirement age from 60 to 58.
- Protesting attack and assault on bankers.
- Demanding publication of list of wilful corporate defaulters.
- Demanding immediate appointment of workmen and officer directors in boards of all the PSBs.
- Opposing fractured mandate for officers (instead of full and complete mandate covering all officers in scale I to VII) and demanding decent wage revision in 11th bipartite settlement based on 'charter of demand' submitted by four officers' organisations based on minimum wages principle.
- Demanding adequate recruitment in PSBs.
- Opposing mis-selling of third party products etc.
1. Kudos to Sowmya Datta, GS, AIBOC –the leader of UFBU’s [11] affiliates.
2. The points raised by AIBOC are comprehensive covering the entire Bank Employees including the youth + the retirees’ issues.
3. In recognition of Bank Employees + Retirees’ contribution to stupendous growth of Deposits worth INR.125000 crores as on 31.03.2017, their wages + pension issues are brought under the purview of CPC-CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION.
4. Ever increasing Pension fund of Rs.2.40 lac crores, exclusively contributed by bank employees, is sufficient to address Pensioners’ issues.
5. The best quality services rendered by Bank Employees is second to none compared to Central/State Govt. employees, Railways, Post Offices, Exports/Imports, Insurance, etc.,
6. Banks serve the Judiciary, the Executive, the Parliament, the Press, the Indian Citizenry, the political parties, with quality + timely service with human touch.
7. Let PSB employees’/retirees’ wage revision pension be brought under CPC’s ambit.
8. Such a proposal, if implemented, will be a WIN: WIN: WIN for GOI: PSB EMPLOYEES:INDIAN CITIZENRY. So that 2019 elections shall be a success story for BJP LEAD NDA. If 15 lacs bank employees [10 lac employees + 5 lac retirees] are benefited on merits, 75 lac Indian voters are happy to usher in BJP LEAD NDA to rule India for another term of 5 years.
9. WITH A SINGLE STROKE OF HIS PEN PM/UFM can close all the issues.
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7fOf8rUrdw
11. SATYAMAEVA JAYATHE!!!