Why did the talks with the unions fail?

The employees feel that wage is their right and they refuse to consider the paying capacity of the banks. Even the union labour minister sent a fax to the employees urging them not to go ahead with the strike, but the union leaders preferred to stick to their stand. They are adamant without being reasonable. Striking work is their right. What can we do about it?

What were the demands of the bank unions in the last round of conciliation meetings on Wednesday?

A bunch of union leaders had come to my office to say that if the IBA agrees to a 12.5 per cent wage hike, then they would call off the strike. I told them that the IBA can stretch up to a limit of 10.5 per cent (from 10 per cent). But this was not acceptable to them.

In the conciliation meeting, they stuck to their demand of a 15 per cent hike with retiral benefits (18 per cent without retiral benefits). There was nomeeting point.

How do you plan to resolve the crisis?

The unions are free to come to the negotiating table and place their revised demands. The IBA is open for reasonable demands. The 0.5 per cent increase we gave them yesterday was a gesture of goodwill. If they are not willing to accept it, there is very little we can do about it. If the employees want wages at the cost of banks going into the red, there are hardly any options before us.

Can't you raise your offer to 15 per cent?

The IBA cannot accept the demands of bank employees. The pay commission's recommendations for a 30 per cent salary hike for PSU employees can be implemented as the money comes from budget allocations. In case of banks, the wages have to be paid out of internal accruals. By resorting to strike, the union leaders have forfeited their right for an increase.

Indian National Bank Officers Confederation general secretary KK Nair
"No question of giving in"

What went wrong at the last round ofwage talks?

The IBA wage hike offer is like the price tag of a Bata shoe -- a rise of .01 per cent and fractions thereon, which is totally unacceptable. It was the high-handed manner in which the IBA management behaved that led to the present impasse.

IBA was constantly belittling and ridiculing the employees instead of starting any worthwhile discussions. The wage revision was due from November 1997, but the IBA management never bothered to negotiate. We started discussions with the IBA only from May 1998...The adamance of IBA is hard to tackle.

What is your demand?

Our demand is a 18 per cent wage hike. We have decided not to revise this offer as of now. When the top bank management can get the pay commission recommended 30 per cent wage hike, why should employees not be given a share in the pie?

How do you plan to resolve the crisis?

The negotiations are slated to continue with the IBA. If the management continues to be adamant, we will go to the government. Governmentintervention would be the last resort for a conciliation.

Our might has always been used for the prosperity of the banking system and the unions have never capitalised on their might. The question of giving in to the management's decision dose not arise.

IBA secretary MN Dandekar
Unions are not justifying their stance: Dandekar

You have not been able to resolve the industrial unrest. Why?

The union leaders still feel that the government will intervene with revenue support to avert the strike and IBA will raise the offer. That has happened in the past but will not happen again. If the workers are adamant to make demands beyond the paying capacity of the banks, then there are bound to be strikes as we cannot accept their demands.

What were the demands of the employees in the last round of conciliation meetings on Wednesday?

The expectations of the employees and the officers are too high and it is not in conformity with the productivity norms or the paying capacities ofthe banking system as a whole. The wages have to be paid from internal accruals. The unions are justifying their stance saying they have come down from a demand of 55 per cent wage hike for the employees and 200 per cent for the officers to the present levels of 18 per cent.

How do you plan to resolve the crisis?

The negotiations will continue. We will have a couple of meetings with the unions. The IBA management committee will try to make the unions see reason in their demands.

How about accepting their demand?

IBA will never accept the 18 per cent wage hike demand. To be able to meet this demand, we will have to increase the interest rates on loans to burden the corporates. The other option is to reduce the deposit rates. But these are not practical steps. The impasse will continue until the unions are more reasonable.

All India Bank Employees Union secretary S D Dhopeshwarkar
'IBA prefers to be adamant in its stand'

What went wrong at the last round of wagetalks?

Ever since the seventh bipartite wage settlement expired in October 1997, the IBA has not shown any willingness to discuss the wage talks at the bilateral level. Instead of discussing various issues with the employees, the IBA management committee has been trying to communicate its views through the media which is creating confusions instead of resolving the problem.

What is your demand?

We demanded a 15 per cent hike exclusive of retiral benefits and 18 per cent hike along with retiral benefits. We were also willing to negotiate further but the IBA management was not willing to place any revised offer on the table. They first agreed to hike the 8 per cent to 9.99 and then to 10 per cent. This too, after finance minister Yashwant Sinha asked the IBA to be generous in its offer. An increase of 2 per cent is hardly any generosity.

How do you plan to resolve the impasse?

The unions are always willing to continue the negotiations. We only insisted that IBA must spell out itsrevised offer. But the IBA prefers to be adamant in its stand. Now the ball is in the court of the management. We have stated our revised offer and now they have to act upon it.

Can you accept the IBA offer?

If the Pay Commission can give salary hikes up to 30 per cent to the employees, why cannot the banking system give a 18 per cent hike to its employees? There is no question of agreeing to the IBA offer unless it comes up with a revised offer.