Public sector bank officers on strike, protest Vijaya-Dena-Bank of Baroda merger, seek wage hike

Mumbai: Around 3.20 lakh officers from various state-run banks are a one-day strike on Friday seeking immediate wage revision and opposing the proposed merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda. The union also wants the wage revision, which is pending since 1 November, 2017, for employees from scale 1-7. Bank managements have mandated the industry lobby Indian Bank Association (IBA) to negotiate for scale 1-3. [caption id=“attachment_5771961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A man sits in front of a closed office of a bank during a nationwide strike called by All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), in Allahabad, Friday, 21 December, 2018. PTI image.[/caption] “The IBA is also not coming forward to structure the 11th bipartite wage negotiations based on our charter of demands by discussing the wage revision for officers from scale 1-7 and also based on the concept of minimum wages as envisaged in the seventh Central pay commission report,” All- India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) general secretary Soumya Datta said. He said after 13 months of negotiations between the unions and IBA, the latter has offered a wage revision of 8 just percent. In the past wage settlement, which was for the period 1 November, 2012 to 31 October, 2017, the employees got a 15 percent hike. The IBA has also offered a variable pay based on the operating profit and return on assets. “Most banks are in losses due to large NPAs but for this an employee can’t be held responsible,” Datta said. The union is also opposing the proposed merger Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda, saying this will not help the merged entity to tackle any of the problems it is facing, including the NPA menace. Meanwhile, the United Forum of Bank Unions has called for one-day strike on 26 December to protest against the proposed merger. This union is an umbrella body of nine unions, including All-India Bank Officers Confederation, All-India Bank Employees Association and the National Organisation of Bank Workers among others.