Bank unions defer 2-day nationwide strike after govt, IBA assurance

Bank unions on Friday deferred their two-day nationwide strike beginning Monday after they received positive assurance from both the finance ministry and the IBA on their demands, including a five-day work week and adequate recruitment in all cadres.

The strike call for March 24 and 25 was given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine bank employees' association.

The decision to defer strike was taken before the Chief Labour Commissioner who had called all parties for a conciliation meeting here.

Representatives of Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and the finance ministry assured to deliberate on demands raised by unions.

The UFBU had also demanded immediate withdrawal of the recent directives of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) on performance review and performance-linked incentives (PLI), which threaten job security and create division amongst employees.

"IBA proposed to further discuss issues like recruitment and PLI and other issues. The Chief Labour Commissioner informed that he will directly monitor the issues including implementation of 5 days banking," All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.

AIBEA is one of the members of UFBU. The other members include All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), and Bank Employees' Confederation of India (BEFI).

The Chief Labour Commissioner has fixed April 22 as the next date of hearing and asked the IBA to submit the progress report on UFBU's demands.

Unions had also demanded resolution of residual issues pending with the IBA and for amending the Gratuity Act to increase the ceiling to Rs 25 lakh on the lines of scheme for government employees, along with exemption from income tax.