Employee unions of state-owned non-life insurers seek 22% salary hike

Groups seek parity with what LIC employees earn, say salary revision due since 2022

Unions representing employees of state-owned non-life insurance companies have demanded that the government give them a 22 per cent salary hike and bring their pay in line with counterparts at Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) get.

 

They want the salary revision to be effective from August 1, 2022. “The wage revision for both LIC and government-owned general insurance companies was due from August 1, 2022. Usually, the government calls both the unions together for negotiations. During the last settlement of 2017, we did not have a parity with LIC and in order to get that parity we are demanding 22 per cent hike in wages,” G Anand, vice-president, All India Insurance Employees' Association, told Business Standard.

 

State-owned general insurance companies follow a five-year wage revision policy and the last revision, of around 12 per cent, was in 2017. LIC revised employee wages by 17 per cent in February 2024, effective from August 1, 2022.

 

 “LIC got their wage revision in 2024, we are yet to get our revision. We are demanding a 22 per cent hike effective from August 2022, to gain parity with our life insurance counterparts.”  

 

“We understand that the management of General Insurance Public Sector Association (GIPSA) is inclined to recommend about a 17 per cent hike to the government,” said Anand, referring to a group representing four state-owned general insurers: The New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance and the National Insurance.

 

“The negotiations are still continuing. We have been assured that the government will resolve these issues before the end of February. Otherwise, we will be intensifying our agitation programs and there will be some industrial actions in the month of March,” he added.

 

The Joint Forum of Unions & Associations of Officers & Employees (JFTU) of public sector general insurance companies, in a meeting on February 4, discussed wage revision it says has been pending since August 1, 2022. 

 

The unions oppose the introduction of 100 per cent foreign direct investment in insurance and amendments to insurance laws.