Bank wage talks begin on May 2, hopes of finalising the package by the end of October

Wage negotiations between bank employees and staff unions, on the one hand, and the bank managements, on the other, will get off the ground on May 2, on hopes of finalising the package by the end of October.

Bank officers, employees, and staff organisations will work through the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), while the Indian Banks Association (IBA) would represent the bank managements.

Banking union sources said the first meeting would be an introductory one. The forum has given a summary of demands and will submit the details when talks begin. Sanjeev K Bandlish, convener, UFBU, representing 11 unions, will lead the team from the workers’ side.

The IBA has formed a panel of bankers for negotiations. Most public sector banks (PSBs), including State Bank of India (SBI), had given their board-approved mandate for talks, a senior PSB executive said. 

The term of the existing wage pact for the banking industry ends in October. The last wage negotiations, pending since 2012, were settled in May 2015 with a 15 per cent hike.

Since January last year, the finance ministry has been persuading banks to finalise the modalities for a timely implementation of the next pay revision from November 1, 2017.

There are 21 public sector banks after the merger of five lenders with SBI on April 1. They together employ about 800,000 people.

At a time when the government is contemplating cutting employee benefits in 10 laggard public sector banks, bank officers have demanded that they should be given a revised basic pay at par with central government officers on the principles of the Seventh Pay Commission.

The Pay Commission had recommended an overall 23.55 per cent hike in basic pay plus allowances. The government had accepted a 14.27 per cent hike in basics pay, while the allowances would have to be decided later.