Rbi Slaps Notice On Airbea Over 1-Day Strike On Sept 6

Possibly for the first time in its history, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a show-cause notice to the All-India Reserve Bank Employees' Association (AIRBEA), the 16,000-odd strong employees' union in the central bank, and threatened to de-recognise it.

The unprecedented step follows the September 6 strike of the AIRBEA which paralysed the apex bank's functions and brought the money and foreign currency market to a standstill.

Samir Ghosh, general secretary, AIRBEA, admitted that the association had received the show-cause notice on Friday. Refusing to be dragged into any controversy, Ghosh said: "This is an internal matter between the RBI management and the union. We hope that we will be able to clarify our position."

 

Sources in the apex bank said that the employees' union has been taken aback by the tough stance of the management. The central bank is unwilling to relent as it finds the strike uncalled for in the current economic scenario.

Trade union sources, however, said that AIRBEA was willing to call off the strike on September 6 had the management shown an open mind to consider their demands.

The conciliation meeting held on September 4 between the RBI management and the AIRBEA had ended in a deadlock and the employees went ahead with their strike, which the central bank termed as illegal.

The AIRBEA is demanding correction of the anomaly in the procedure adopted in giving increments as there were some cases where an employee who is an under-graduate got higher increment than a graduate or a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Banking-qualified candidate.

The AIRBEA called the strike to also protest the central bank management's "apathy and discrimination" towards its members.

Talks had been on between the management and the AIRBEA since the signing of the bipartite wage agreement in August 2000 on the issue of service conditions but on August 9 all the demands were rejected by the management, union representatives said.