AIBEA circular on Pay commission rumours....................

Scotch rumours of referring our demands to Pay Commission

Defend collective bargaining – Defeat third party intervention

For the past few days, there are reports in some of the newspapers that the Government is thinking of referring the wage revision demands of bank employees and officers to the Pay Commission. 

Some of the papers had carried the name of one Mr. Ashwani Rana of NOBW as the source. 

During the UFBU meeting held at Bengaluru on 13-10-2014, the leaders of NOBW reiterated that NOBW stands for bilateral settlement and not for referring the demands to Pay Commission. 

Further, during this meeting, all the constituents of UFBU firmly reiterated their stand in favour of bipartite agreement and against foisting any tribunal or Pay Commission on banking sector. 

Further, on our taking up the matter with the Government and IBA, it is learnt that there is no such move from either of them.  Obviously it is the handiwork of some mischievous individuals who have been calculatedly sowing the seeds of frustration in the minds of employees. 

Right to collective bargaining and bilateralism have been the precious achievement of bank employees movement and secured through innumerable struggles. ...........

.............The superiority of collective bargaining and bipartite settlement has to be understood in the background of the denial of justice at the hands of the successive Tribunals and Awards like Sen Award, Sastri Award, Desai Award to which the demands of the bank employees were referred to in those days of 1940s to 1966.

Especially, the bitterness of the experience with results of the Awards made bank employees to realise that the system of third party adjudication should be stopped and era of collective bargaining and bilateralism should be achieved.

 

Under the Pay Commission, there is no scope to argue, discuss or negotiate our demands.  We can only petition and represent.  That is why the achievement of the bipartite system to settle our demands through direct negotiations has been a very significant forward movement.   We have to preserve this right to collective bargaining and take it forward.

Bipartite Wage Settlements in the banking industry have been the path-finders since our Settlements have always opened the door for settlement in other institutions in the financial sector like LIC, GIC, RBI, etc. etc. 

Today there are voices heard here and there that third party adjudication or Pay Commission would benefit the employees.  It should be our endeavour to explain the details to those who have no idea of the past bitter experiences and who are sought to be misled through misinformation. 

Particularly, the young employees who only see the comparison of emoluments have to be explained properly and patiently about the implications of Pay Commission.

It is equally important to identify and unmask the desperate elements who are out to feed poison and venom in the minds of young employees who are justifiably in search of answers to their genuine aspirations.

The need of the hour is to instil faith in collective bargaining and trade unions and not inflict despair in their minds. 

Our duty is to convince them and not confuse them.  

Fighting to preserve the right to collective bargaining and continuation of bipartism is as important as our fight for better wages. 

As far as AIBEA is concerned, any attempt to meddle with it would be fought back.