UFBU Bank Strike 11 September: The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has decided to go on a nationwide strike on September 11 over a number of pending demands, including a five-day delay in implementing the banking system, differences over the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and pension related issues. If there is a strike, banking services in many parts of the country, especially in public sector banks, may be affected for four days.
11th September is Friday and the following two days are bank holidays. In some states, there will also be a holiday for Ganesh Chaturthi on 14th September. UFBU leads nine bank employees and officers labor unions. This apex organization has also warned of another three-day nationwide strike from September 28. This strike will take place at the time of closing of half yearly accounts.
Demand for 5 day banking
UFBU said that it has also been decided to go on an indefinite strike from October 26 if the government and bank management do not pay attention to their demands. The statement said that this decision was taken in the meeting held on Sunday.
According to labor unions, the government has had a negative approach towards their major demands. On the issue of five-day banking arrangement, the organization said that the Indian Banks Association (IBA) had agreed to this proposal under the 12th bilateral agreement/ninth joint letter (note) signed on March 8, 2024. Under this, working hours were to be increased by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday. UFBU said the proposal was later recommended to the government, but it is pending for more than two years.
PLI scheme is also necessary
The unions have also objected to the government's PLI scheme for bank officers at Scale-IV and above level. He says this is different from the understanding reached with IBA, under which the performance linked incentive was to be linked to the overall performance of the individual bank and was to be uniform for employees and officers up to Scale-VII.
UFBU said that under the government scheme, officers at the level of Scale-IV and above can get PLI equivalent to a maximum of 365 days of basic pay depending on individual performance. At the same time, working employees and officers up to Scale-III can get dearness allowance along with a maximum of 15 days' basic pay. She claimed that the PLI issue is currently under conciliation process before the Chief Labor Commissioner (CLC) after the UFBU strike was announced and is also pending in the Delhi High Court.
UFBU alleged that despite the conciliation process being pending and an offer to hold bilateral talks with the IBA, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has advised banks to implement the government's performance based incentive scheme. UFBU said that payment of performance based incentives under the DFS scheme has now actually started in the banks. He alleged that this is a violation of the obligation to maintain status quo during the reconciliation process.
This is also a demand
According to the statement, the current PLI scheme suggested by DFS will disproportionately benefit a small section of officers and undermine the principle of equity in incentives among different cadres.
He said that other pending demands include updation and improvement of pension, uniform calculation system of dearness allowance for all pensioners and giving option to employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to switch to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). These demands are also still unresolved.