CIRCULAR TO ALL
UNITS
OF AIBEA & BEFI: 21-8-2013
Dear
Comrades,
· TIME TO GET UP AND RESIST
· AIBEA-BEFI’S JOINT CALL FOR ALL INDIA
BANK STRIKE ON 25TH SEPTEMBER, 2013
TO OPPOSE
o
ANTI-PEOPLE BANKING
SECTOR REFORMS
o
CONTEMPLATION
FOR MERGER OF PSBs
o
UNWARRANTED CLOSURE
OF ASSOCIATE BANKS & MERGER WITH SBI
o
RETROGRADE POLICY TO
GIVE BANKING LICENCE TO CORPORTE AND BUSINESS HOUSES
o
UNILATERAL
IMPOSITION OF SERVICE CONDITIONS
The agenda of the
Government on banking sector reforms is well-known to the bank employees of our
country.
Various struggles have also
been undertaken by us in the past to oppose their moves. At a time, when the banking system is facing
crisis due to very same set of policies in the USA, UK, Europe, etc., instead
of learning lessons, our Government wants to blindly follow suit. Banking laws are being liberalised and
regulations are being relaxed and loosened. Hence it has become an important
duty of the trade unions to fight against these measures.
To add fuel to fire,
the Government has been repeatedly talking of consolidation and merger of
Banks. Even some groupings have been
done to club the nationalised Banks into 7 groups of Banks. These cannot be taken as innocent moves and
measures. We can easily discern and detect their idea. In the recent months, they are also talking
of merging the Associate Banks with SBI.
Why they need it? There is no
answer. Who will be benefitted? There is no one to answer. Yet the Government
wants to go ahead. In the recent weeks,
the SBI top management is repeatedly talking of merger of its Associate Banks
with itself. The attempt is to close
down these Associate Banks and take them over by SBI.
SBI is not the
promoter of the Associate Banks. SBI is
not the owner of these Banks, either.
They are just investors and share-holders in the Associate Banks. These
Associate Banks have their background and long history. Their fate cannot be at the whims of the
SBI. Further all these Associate Banks
are doing well and performing. What is
the need to close them down? There are private Banks which are much behind the
performance and business of the Associate Banks. Yet they continue and enjoy the blessings of
the government. The impressive performance of Associate Banks is despite the
policies of the SBI to dwarf them. If
they had been free of SBI, they would have grown much bigger. Even today, they
are very popular Banks in the main States where they operate. Then who is behind this idea of closing down
the Associate Banks. It is not
merger. It is murder. We not only oppose closing down the Associate
Banks and merging them with SBI, we also demand that these Banks should be
de-linked from SBI. They have strong
potential to grow and will certainly perform better if freed from the clutches
of SBI. But in their hurry to pursue
their agenda, the top management of SBI wants to move unilaterally. Logic and reasoning has become the
casualty. But we need to fight back.
Even in service
conditions they want to be unilateral.
They want to violate our agreement with the view to destabilize our
service conditions.
The Government also
wants to reverse the clock. Prior to
nationalisation of the Banks, Banks suffered from urban-bias. Today, the achievements of our public sector
banks are marvels. But they want to
denigrate the public sector Banks. They
want to further encourage private sector.
They want to once again allow big business to enter banking sector. Already 26 applicants including from Tata,
Birla, Ambani, L&T, Bajaj, Ruias, etc. have queued before the RBI.
Hence it has been
decided to give the call for agitation including strike.
Comrades,
the following programmes are to be implemented jointly and effectively.
|
|
|
|
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23-8-2013
|
Deputation
to respective MDs by leaders of the Associate Banks to convey our opposition
for the proposed merger of Associate Banks with State Bank of India.
|
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26-8-2013
|
Letters
by all our unions to be addressed to Chairman SBI
|
|
27-8-2013
|
Letters
by all our unions to be addressed to Governor, RBI
|
|
28-8-2013
|
Letters
by all our unions to be addressed to Finance Minister, GoI
|
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30-8-2013
|
Dharna
before all Regional Offices / Zonal Offices of Associate Banks.
|
|
5-9-2013
|
Dharna
before respective Head Offices of Associate Banks i.e. in Bangalore,
Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Patiala by all our Unions
|
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5-9-2013
|
Anti Merger Day – Badge Wearing
|
|
16-9-2013:
|
Demonstrations
in all centres and stations
|
|
23-9-2013:
|
Demonstrations
in all centres and stations
|
|
25-9-2013
|
All India Bank Strike
|
ISSUES AND DEMANDS:
§ STOP BANKING
SECTOR REFORMS
§ STOP MERGER
AND CONSOLIDATION OF BANKS
§ DO NOT CLOSE
DOWN ASSOCIATE BANKS
§ DE-LINK
ASSOCIATE BANKS AND MAKE THEM INDEPENDENT BANKS
§ STOP BANKING
LICENCES TO CORPORATES AND BUSINESS HOUSES
We call upon all our unions and members to make the
programme and strike action a total success.
C.H. VENKATACHALAM PRADIP BISWAS
GENERAL
SECRETARY
AIBEA BEFI
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