Bank unions have deferred the decision to hold the two-day nationwide bank strike on January 30-31. According to a report by the news agency IANS, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has deferred the two-day nationwide bank strike. The decision came after a conciliation meeting held in Mumbai on January 27.
The report quotes CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary of All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) saying that the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has agreed to hold a meeting with the unions on January 31.
At the conciliation meeting, it was decided that the three common issues will be discussed on January 31. These include five-day banking, updation of pension, and restoration of the old pension scheme, the report said, adding that the other residual issues will be discussed with respective officers and workmen unions separately.
The umbrella organisation of bank unions, UFBU, on January 15 had stated that workers connected with its affiliated unions would go on strike on January 30 and 31 over concerns pertaining to the 11th wage settlement for bank employees.
The last five-year settlement (2017–22) for the revision of pay and service conditions is now over. Thus, the bank unions want to start talks on a new five-year settlement. The bank unions also demanded that the government fill the two lakh vacant positions.
They also want the government to resolve a few unresolved problems, including the updation of pensions, residual issues, scrapping of the National Pension System (NPS), and immediate starting of negotiation on the charter of demands for wage revision.
A conciliation meeting at the office of the Deputy Chief Labor Commissioner in Mumbai on January 24 failed to address bank unions' demands. However, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had said that it was ready to hold discussions with the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) within 15 days.