Bank unions opposed to excluding some officers cadre from wage talks

Chennai, May 12 (IANS) Unions in the banking sector are opposed for a separate wage settlement for certain categories of officers or top management, said leaders of two major unions.

According to them, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) want to have a separate wage settlement for officers in scale 4-7 and restricting the composite wage settlement for clerks and officers in the grade scale 1-3.

An officer in a nationalised bank who did not want to be named told IANS: "Officers in scale 4-7 are not members of unions. When they don't pay any subscription to the unions, why should the latter take up their cause."

However, All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) General Secretary D.T.Franco told IANS that "the IBA wanted the wage revision discussion restricted to staff and officers in the scales 1-3. But the unions refused".

His All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) counterpart C.H. Venkatachalam said: "The management want to fix variable pay for officers in the scale 4-7. But the officers unions are unitedly opposed to the division in their ranks. As in the past eight settlements, this time also the wage revision will be done on a composite basis." 

Venkatachalam also told IANS that from 1979 onwards, the IBA has been negotiating with the unions for pay revision on a composite basis.

Franco also said it is not right to say officers in the scales 4-7 are not members of any union.

"In many banks, all the officers are members of unions. Only in some banks, some officers are not members of any union," he said.

He said in State Bank of India (SBI), all officers in the grade/scale 1-5 are members of union and in the other to scales - 6 and 7 - there is a mix of members and non-members.