AN OPEN LETTER TO UFBU ON

11TH BIPARTITE SETTLEMENT

Sk Malik
A Banker
 PREFACE

Wage revision and service conditions are being negotiated between Indian Banks Association (IBA)
and United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) as per Sastry and Desai Awards system of Bipartite
settlement. The rules of 1950s and 60s are compelling 01 million bankers today in 21st century to
bow down to Unions to ask on their behalf for fair compensation of services rendered unlike 21.5
million of Central and State Govt employees in India who are at liberty to raise their voice directly
either individually or in a group and can held responsible the respective Central /State Government.

An urgent need is being felt by bank employees for midway review of negotiations of 11th Bipartite
settlement as same has started with 2 % , 6 % with variables and still on. Is the cost of our basic need
of food, housing ,clothing, transportation, children’s education, daughter’s marriage negotiable and
cost involved in rituals and taking dead body of parents to pyre is also negotiable. Do unions have
enough experience, knowledge, infrastructure, scientific research or other parameters to calculate the
cost of living in changed scenario or have comparative studies of pay structure with their counter parts
in Central and State Govt. It took 18 months for the 7th CPC constituted headed by Justice AK Mathur
who was Chief justice of Calcutta High Court, Justice of the Supreme Court of India to review the
principles and structure of emoluments of all Central Govt employees.

A mid course correction & 360 degree feed back from bankers before moving further on pay structure
and service conditions on 11th Bipartite is immensely required at this stage as better late than never.

The strength and collective bargaining capacity of Unions with communism and capitalism is entirely
different. It is time for all the 09 bank unions under its umbrella body UFBU to revisit the past and
present strength of unionism in other countries, to understand financial conditions and living standard
of bank employees and its counter parts in other Govt services at this point of time and plan for
decisive fight otherwise the system of bipartite through unions is on the verge of collapse.

It is also an equal opportunity for bankers to understand the role of unions, nitty-gritty of bipartite
settlement, to know and draw comparison on monetary basis and status wise.

The salary of a Graduate Bank Clerk is less than a Matriculate MTS of Central Govt and its HRA is
just Rs 1005/- . Preparation of these comparisons, the observations of Sastry and Desai Awards, the
pain of injustice and sleep mode of UFBU has compelled me to breach the rule of brevity to write
these 07 pages.

I sincerely thank all the esteemed Bankers for their precious time and valuable suggestions.
 "We must close union offices,
Confiscate their money and
put their leaders in prison.

We must reduce workers' salaries

and take away their right to strike."

Adolf Hitler May 02, 1933

Dear Members of UFBU

"Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund " DGB is the largest umbrella organisation of unions in

Germany with 6.1 million membership.

The single largest trade union is the IG Metal which has 2.3 million members in the metal, electronics
and steel. I am talking about only 02 trade unions, there are many more in Germany, the country
which has population of mere 80 million people.

On 09th April 2018,its largest Air carrier Lufthansa had to cancel 800 scheduled flights and 1600 on
the following day due to mass strike by 1,50,000 public sector employees. European Central Bank
(ECB) was closely monitoring the situation of euro zone countries.

Adolf Hitler led the destruction of his own Germany and its allies with massacre of 50 million people
directly and 80 million in total due to related effects of war, which was 3 % population of world in
1945.

Needless to say tyranny and hostility of Hitler could kill people in WW II, but could not kill the spirit
of unionism, which is still flourishing in his own Germany.

"Employees, represented by free and democratic trade unions of their own choosing participate
actively in determining their wages, hours and working conditions. Their living standard are the
highest in the world. Their job rights are protected by collective bargaining agreements, They have
fringe benefits that were unheard of less than a generation ago."

John. F .kennedy
Aug 30,1960

The history of unions in Germany is of endurance, sustainability and survival in the testing time
whereas contribution, welfare and power of collective bargaining of unions have been appreciated and
gratified by USA.

The main functions of unions are to protect the right, dignity and well being of its members. We need
unions for decent pay, benefits and job security.

As per the Bipartite system, in 11th Bipartite settlement, WE the bank employees are being
represented by the UFBU to negotiate the pay and perks along with service conditions with IBA who
will consult directly or indirectly with Government of India during negotiation process.
Dear Comrades,

It is ironical that the provisions contained in Sastry & Desai Awards have left the bank employees at
the whims and fancies of negotiating unions with IBA. In another words we have been deprived of
our rights to raise legitimate demands with Government .Rules of the game are clear and have legal
sanctity ,as employees of banks we can ask , request , justify demand and put pressure on UFBU for
fulfilment of our genuine demands. Once the negotiations are sealed between UFBU and IBA, We
have no legitimate right to held Government responsible for any act of omission and commission for
non fulfilment of our demands.

UFBU is not aware of ground realities and sufferings of its cadre, Let me explain in details the salary
structure, its elements, meritocracy of An Associate in Kota (Rajasthan) who is of 30 years of age
with 03 years of service in bank, staying with parents, wife and 02 children at rented house.

Earnings: Rs Deductions (As per provision) Rs

Basic Pay : 15360 PF Contribution 1700

Dearness Allowance 9841 Contributory Pension Fund 2620
House Rent Allowance 1275
Transport Allowance 425
Special Allowance 1190
Special Pay New 1640

Total 29731* Total 4320

*includes an increment on account of JAIIB of Rs 955 and rate of DA there on etc.

Take Home Salary: Rs 25,411/-

If we analyze his take home salary of Rs 25,000/-. He pays Rs 8000/- as house rent and approximately
Rs 1500/- on electricity and allied water charges at a city Kota (Rajasthan). Even the circumstances
compel him to stay at the outskirts of the city to adjust in Rs 8000/-.

GONE ARE THOSE DAYS OLD COMRADES, WHEN YOU USED TO GET TRANSFER
NEARBY HOME AND STAY AT ANCESTRAL HOUSE WITHOUT BEARING THE
EXPENSES OF RENT AND TRAVELLING TO REACH AT YOUR HOME BY EVENING.

He has to bear Rs 9500 on house rent and electricity and water charges which is about 38 % of his
total take home salary.

Can we imagine the pain and mental truma , he has to pass through to make his both ends meet
with a meager amount of remaining Rs 16,000/-.

Can he afford bare minimum necessities of life, meet financial needs of 06 members , fulfil
his social obligations and save for unseen future contingencies with Rs 16000/-.

THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE (HRA) MUST NOT BE LESS
THAN Rs 8000/-FOR ANY BANK EMPLOYEE INCLUDING SUB STAFF IN ANY FORM
WHETHER IT IS UNLOADED, OFF LOADED OR FULLY LOADED. HOUSING IS THE
BASIC NEED OF MANKIND.
Dear Comrades,
"To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war"

Winston Churchill

UFBU seems to be following the advice of the former president of USA , but either it is unheard or
choose to close its eyes or ears on his another advice i.e

"Courage is what it takes up to stand up and speak.

Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

We are not complaining of hard work, we want to see our hard work reflected in pay. We are
demanding the pay, perks and service conditions under which a middle class family lives in society.
Now the employees of Central Government are drawing their salaries and allowances as per 7th CPC.
The selection process of every bank employee is at par with UPSC or SSC. A penal of experts headed
by Justice Ak Mathur has exhaustively consulted, visited work places, observed service conditions
and cost of living about 18 months across country before arriving at pay structure of 7th CPC and
same has been accepted (except a few anomalies ) by Central Government of India. At this juncture it
is neither feasible nor possible to have every element at par with the 7th CPC But as far as the gross
salary is concerned , a similarity must be drawn whether it is Sub staff, Award Staff or Officers with
their counter parts in Central Government.

“The rates of pay in certain departments of Government such as Posts & Telegraphs and in state
Governments will also furnish material for the construction of a pay scale for the bank workmen.
Above all we have the report of the Central Pay Commission which is now considered an
authoritative and useful guide to problems relating to wage determination at least among Govt
Employees. There are several affinities between bank workmen and Government clerks, bank
subordinates and Government menials. The Central Pay Commission had before them the very
clerical class and the class below it .” (para 252 of the Sastry Award)

“In matters of education, intelligence, social needs, family responsibilities, standards of living and
outlook on life there is a fair degree of similarity between the clerks that work in a bank and those that
work in a Government department.” and in same para 259 of Sastry Awards has quoted pay scales of
LDC and UDC of various state governments of that time.

A comparison of pay and allowances among A Junior Associate selected by SBI, A Lower Division
Clerk (LDC), A Upper Division Clerk (UDC) & Multi Tasking Staff ( MTS) equivalent to sub staff
in banks, selected by Staff Selection Commission (SSC) who joins as on 01 Oct 18 in Kota
(Rajasthan) is as follows:

Bank Asst Stn

Clerk MTS LDC UDC Master Rly)

Basic Bay 13075 18000 19900 25500 34500

Dearness Allow #$ 7621 1620 1791 2295 3105
HRA 1005 3600* 3600* 4080 5520
TPT Allow + DA 425 981 981 1962 1962
Special Allow 1013 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Special Pay 330 N/A N /A N/A N/A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 23469 24201 26272 33837 45087
th
* Minimum HRA for Y class city as provisions of 7 CPC is Rs 3600/- or 16 % of BP
# DA For Central Govt Employees calculated @ 9 % , $ Bank DA @ 54.10%
TPT for MTS and LDC Rs 900/-, UDC and ASM Rs 1800/-
The requisite educational qualification set by Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for MTS-
Matriculation, LDC - Senior Secondary/10 + 2, UDC –Graduate & by Railways for ASM (Rly)-
Graduate and Bank Clerk – Graduate and standard of examination & selection is set by SSC on the
basis of requisite educational qualification.

A total of 7954 candidates have been selected in clerical cadre passed month through preliminary and
mains exams conducted by State Bank of India out of approximately 1.6 million candidates. The
selection ratio was 0.49 out of 100 for selected candidates of SBI in clerical cadre in 2018.

AS I AM NOT MUCH FAMILIAR WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES STRUCTURE OF SUB

STAFF AND OFFICERS, DUE TO LIMITATIONS FOCUSSING ON AWARD STAFF ONLY

IT IS EVIDENT HERE THAT COMPARED TO A BANK CLERK EVEN A MTS DRAWS

03.12 % MORE, A LDC DRAWS 11.94% AND OUR COUNTER PART AN UPPER
DIVISION CLERK (UDC) DRAWS 44.18 % & ASST STATION MASTER (ASM)
SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF SIMILAR PARAMETERS AND FACES SIMILAR
STANDARD OF EXAMINATION DRAWS WHOOPING 92.11 % MORE SALARY
COMPARED TO A BANK CLERK.

Even the Justice Desai Commission has commented that, “Having considered all aspects of the
matter, I am of the view that to the extent that prevailing rates of wages in similar occupations in the
same localities play a part in the fixation of wages, the workmen have made out a case for an upward
revision of their emoluments .” in 1962 (para 5.181 refers)

SKILLED LABOUR
ISN'T CHEAP

CHEAP LABOUR
ISN'T SKILLED

DEAR UFBU MEMBERS, YOU ARE FOLLOWING POLICY OF “PENNY WISE, POUND
FOOLISH”, BY BEGGING FOR PENNIES, AND WE DEMAND NOT A SINGLE PENNY
LESS THAN 7TH CPC.

“When people are financially invested, they want a return.

When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”

Simon Sinek

There is no comprehensive and stable human resource policy, service conditions and adequate
manpower which can shoulder responsibility with prudence and reasonability for the sustainability of
banking industry. These will motivate employees and contribute to banking industry what the British-
American author said.

Pressure is murder. It is an open secret to a banker what is the pressure, how, for what and on whose
name it is created. Without mincing a single word I say with conviction that hundreds of young
officers are being directly murdered every year by this pressure, the name of suicide is just a wish of
dying soul to take blame on self as per customs of this land.
Dear Comrades,

If the Sastry & Desai Awards has given you the constitutional rights to negotiate and collective
bargaining on behalf of 01 million employees then you have to bear in mind the collective leverage,
the power of numbers verses the power of capitalist interests.

"you can't negotiate with people

who say what's mine is mine and
what's yours is negotiable."

THE THREE LEGITIMATE & NON NEGOTIABLE DEMANDS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. EVERY EMPLOYEE MUST GET A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF RS 8000/- AS HOUSE

RENT ALLOWANCE (HRA).

2. EVERY EMPLOYEE MUST GET PAY AND ALLOWANCES EQUAL TO HIS/HER

COUNTER PART IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AS PER 7th CPC.

3. ANY EMPLOYEE MUST NOT BE KEPT TO WORK BEYOND STIPULATED TIME AND
OFFICES & BRANCHES TO BE KEPT CLOSED ON HOLIDAYS.

The quality of decision is like the well- timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to to strike and
destroy its victims .It is better to have struggled and lost than have not struggled at all.

"Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking."

If these demands are not being met by negotiating team then I propose to UFBU members:

THERE MUST BE A LOCKOUT STRIKE OF CONTINUOUS 05 DAYS STRIKE, THE

DAYS PRECEDED BY SUNDAY AND FOLLOWED BY 2ND OR 4TH SATURDAY AND
SUNDAY.

BANKING SERVICES AND OPERATION MUST BE BROUGH TO STANDSTILL ON THE

PRINCIPLE OF "AS & WHERE" BASIS.

The next course of action if voice of bankers is still not heard and not met, then the final nail in the
coffin will be HUNGER STRIKE:

CALL FOR AN INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE AT RAM LEELA MAIDAN, DELHI TILL
ALL LEGITIMATE DEMANDS ARE ACCEPTED, AND UFBU LEADERS MUST LEAD
THE “FAST UNTO DEATH” MOVEMENT FOR THE RIGHTS OF 01 MILLION BANKERS
LIKE WHAT A 74 YEARS OLD AGED SHRI ANNA HAZARE DID AT JANTAR MANTAR
ON 05 APRIL 2011 UNDER THE BANNER OF INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION (IAC) FOR
THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS OF INDIA.

EVERYONE IS REPLACEABLE. IF MEMBERS OF UFBU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STRENGTH TO LEAD BANKERS, THEN INVITE AND FORM
A NEW TEAM, 01 MILLION MEMBERS HAVE ENOUGH LEADERS AMONG
THEMSELVES, WHO ARE MUCH QUALIFIED, ENTHUSIASTIC, TACTFUL, DOWN TO
EARTH, BEAR LEADERSIP QUALITIES AND HAVE GUTS TO CHANGE THE RULES
OF GAME IN NEGOTIATIONS OR SIT ON “AAMARAN ANSHAN” TILL FULLFILMENT
OF DEMANDS.
LET ME SAY CLEAR AND LOUD, THERE WILL BE NO 11TH BIPARTITE
SETTLEMENT UNLESS AND UNTIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF UFBU PUT THEIR
SIGNATURES ON AGREEMENT. THESE SIGNATURES WILL NOT BE THEIR OWN
BUT OF 01 MILLION BANK EMPLOYEES ALONG WITH THEIR PARENTS, WIVES
AND CHILDREN. STILL THE BALL IS IN THE COURT OF UFBU WHO HAS
UNCONDITIONAL MORAL, PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF EACH AND
EVERY MEMBER.

JAI HIND

SK Malik
A Banker
Date: 26 October 2018 skmalik75@gmail.com

Disclaimer: There may be any error in typing/presentation of facts/dates or other information.

Addressed to:

Com. CH Venkatachalam (AIBEA) 9840089920 Com. Pradip Biswas (BEFI) 9433144271

Com. Nagarajan (AIOBA) 9840645081 Com. SK Bandlish (AISBISF)
Com. Thomas Franco (AIBOC) 9445000806 Com. C.J. NandaKumar (BEFI) 9447168336

Email to: ufbu.chd@gmail.com aibeahq@gmail.com ngcfranco@gmail.com

chv.aibea@gmail.com aiboc.sectt@gmail.com presidentaipnbof@gmail.com

ufbu.hyd@gmail.com cjn1957@gmail.com pradipbefi@yahoo.com

aiboa.hq@gmail.com snagarajan55@gmail.com ncbe.chd@gmail.com

nobwco.ngp@gmail.com Twitter: @UFBUIndia