Developments in small committee meetings - AIBOA version

We reproduce hereunder circular issued by AIBOA regarding developments in small comitee meetings 

"MOU dated 27.11.2009
Developments in small committee meetings

Ever since we signed the MOU dated 27.11.2009 all constituents of UFBU are striving to reach the settlement on pension and revision of pay at the earliest.

However, the first destablising development  came when IBA after MOU dated 27.11.2009 was signed on the basis of existing parameters of costing in the industry, brought SBI pension balancing, a factor which was not there in earlier two settlements and after SBI employees got 120 crores as compensation on the pension scheme introduced in Banks.  IBA brought this after MOU keeping UFBU in dark till we signed MOU 27.11.2009 and they did not accept our legal demand to keep this amount of nearly 300 crores outside the load, without reducing the load factor of 17.5% to 16.5%.

But IBA using the pressure on the unions to expedite the settlement imposed the questionable addition to reduce our load factor.

Another destabilsing aspect took place amongst officers’ Associations when we met IBA Chairman to plead for higher starting basic and stagnation, it was decided by  the unions that we will work out scale of pay adjusting incremental pattern to reach 15000 starting pay.

However AIBOC unilaterally met IBA and announced completion of small committee work and wanted us to agree to their scheme.  We had prepared our chart at 15000 with suitable adjustments in incremental pattern and said that we would go with them on other matters if starting pay is agreed at 15000/- so as to reduce the difference with Govt. officers which have increased by leaps and bounds due to grade pay etc., after VI Pay Commission implementation.

AIBOC expressed its inability to go further and despite other small improvements, Junior officers are again left in the lurch.  Without delinking Executives pay, we unnecessarily reduced their pay in the process sealing our prospects to improve our wages in future.

This policy of AIBOC to negotiate with IBA on separate lines has led us to difficulties.  While AIBOC was always critising UFBU, they flouted 20+ demand of united UFBU to land us at 17.5%.  Thereafter they revisited SBI demand to make it 16.5%.  They wanted higher wage for officers but did not accept AIBOA’s proposal to place separate demands and to pursue the charter with IBA and Govt., separately.  Instead they sat with UFBU till date of effect and merger points were decided and showed a picture as if they are not agreeing with 17.5% but eventually made it 16.5% in favour of SBI.  Convenient stand was taken at every point of time to distribute the load on the basis of numbers without basic principles of fair loading principles to all sections.

Another sad feature of AIBOC negotiation is that while HRA we had differed with IBA costing excess nearly 50 crores, they have not even declared this publicly.  Similarly after reducing starting pay to Rs.14500/- now AIBOC is complaining of relativity problem as workmen get special pay of Rs.1000/- wef 1.5.2010.

However more than anything above AIBOA is worried that IBA is adopting standards and methods questionable in nature to push higher level of recovery from the load factor and from individuals nor incumbent to pay the deficit on account of delayed option.  Having extracted higher appropriation in respect of incremental cost sharing and deficit funding, IBA has so far denied normal feature of pension like DA neutralization, updation, anomaly rectification for the last10 years With further recovery for incremental cost for 276600 persons and deficit recovery, IBA has achieved higher cost of pension taking nearly 5% more than PF cost of 10% with which pension was exchanged in the beginning.  Slowly pension is proving more costlier than the benefits especially after this settlement.

It is this trend of negative bargaining by IBA to pauperise the community that make us generally worried about the state of collective bargaining in the industry and the need for transparency to evolve demands below which the unions will not accept any settlement with Bankers.

With greetings

/R.J.SRIDHARAN/

GENERAL SECRETARY      "

Source - AIBOA Website