Bank employees numbering several lakh, across public, regional rural and old generation private banks in the country, are keen on an early start to the next round of wage negotiations between the unions that represent the workforce and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
“Wage revision is due since November 2022. Since the last, 11th bipartite settlement effective November 2017 (reached in November 2020), we observe banks are not smoothly authorising IBA to start negotiations,” General Secretary of the Bank Employees’ Federation of India (BEFI) Debasish Basu Chaudhury said in an interaction.
While some banks delay their mandate to IBA, a few authorise the association to negotiate only up to a particular payscale as beyond that, they desire to have their own arrangements with the officers, he said, adding this time too when the unions insisted on launch of discussions, IBA said most banks were yet to give their mandate. “A few days ago, the United Forum of Bank Unions had urged IBA to start negotiations pending whatever mandate. This is where we are standing,” he said. In the last settlement, a 15% pay increase formed the core of the agreement.
