Letter to BS: Separate packages for workmen and officers on the cards

Apropos Abhijit Lele and Raghu Mohan's report "Split wide open" (July 3), it is a good sign that Indian Banks' Association will have two separate wage agreements with the staff and officers of public sector banks (PSBs). The PSBs are perhaps the only setup in public sector undertakings where the staff and the officers join in wage negotiations and intermittent strikes together, to bring the work of banks to a standstill, thereby forcing managements to agree to their exorbitant demands. Giving the flexibility to individual banks to pay their employees is another plus point. It will promote a pay-for-results culture. 

The article also brings out the deficiencies in the HR policies of PSBs. When the accountability of PSBs is fixed with the top management, this gap would also be bridged. In the 2015 settlement, though bank employees got a 15 per cent rise in wages and two Saturdays in a month off, the remaining days were reduced to half-day of work and there was no commitment to improve the financial health of the organisations. There should be real productivity bargaining this time in the spirit of give and take.

Y G Chouksey, Pune

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