Close to a million bankers working in Govt. banks were eagerly waiting for the revision in their salaries and this tradition of waiting has continued since 1st of Jan 1966. The first bipartite settlement was consummated on 19th Oct 1966 after a lapse of 9 months. Once the Bipartite settlement is signed for the workmen the joint note is signed for the officers under similar lines. Finally the eleventh bipartite settlement has been settled after a lapse of 36 months, numerous meetings, strikes and a lot of heartburn. The term bipartite settlement means a pact between two and the two parties here are the IBA (Indian Banks Association) and the UFBU (United forum of Bank Unions). IBA is a representative body of management of all PSU banks and a few of the private banks, but the actual reign lies with the Govt. of India. UFBU is the United Forum of Bank Unions which has the below workmen unions and officers associations under its umbrella
- All India Bank Employees Association(AIBEA)
- All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA)
- All India State Bank Officers Federation (AISBOF)
- All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC)
- National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE)
- National Organisation of Bank Workers(NOBW)
- National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO)
- Indian National Bank Employees Congress (INBEC)
- Indian National Bank Officers Congress(INBOC)
- Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI)
The above unions and associations are also umbrella organisations of various bank wise unions and associations. Below is a chronological order of the previous settlements
| Bipartite Settlement | Due Date | Date of Settlement | Waiting Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Bipartite settlement | 1.01.1966 | 19.10.1966 | 9 months |
| 2nd Bipartite settlement | 1.01.1970 | 12.10.1970 | 9 months |
| 3rd Bipartite settlement | 1.09.1978 | 1.08.1979 | 11 months |
| 4th Bipartite settlement | 1.09.1982 | 17.09.1984 | 24 months |
| 5th Bipartite settlement | 1.07.1987 | 10.04.1989 | 21 months |
| 6th Bipartite settlement | 1.11.1992 | 14.02.1995 | 28 months |
| 7th Bipartite settlement | 1.11.1997 | 27.03.2000 | 29 months |
| 8th Bipartite settlement | 1.11.2002 | 02.06.2005 | 32 months |
| 9th Bipartite settlement | 1.11.2007 | 27.04.2010 | 30 months |
| 10th Bipartite settlement | 1.11.2012 | 25.05.2015 | 30 months |
| 11th Bipartite settlement | 01.11.2017 | 11.11.2020 | 36 months |
The process of Bipartite settlement
AIBEA(All India Bank Employees Association) was instrumental in clinching the 1st bipartite settlement and it has been dominant in all the nine other settlements. Here is a brief note on the complete process.
Step-1: Submission of Charter of demands collectively by UFBU. The United Forum of Bank Unions creates the charter of demands in consultation with all its constituent members.
Step-2: Submission of mandate by the member banks to IBA to allow negotiation on their behalf. A mandate is issued by a member bank after approval from its board of directors. It’s only after the receipt of the mandate that the IBA calls the UFBU to the negotiating table. The 11th bipartite is also facing the issue of fractured mandate where the managements of five banks SBI, BOB, PNB, Union Bank of India and Indian Bank have given the mandate to IBA for negotiation upto scale III.
Step-3: Several agitations, strikes and many rounds of discussions. The bipartite settlement is consummated after a mutually acceptable agreement is reached based on the charter of demands submitted.
The 11th Bipartite Settlement
The 11th Bipartite is due since Nov 2017, close to a million bankers have their hopes pinned to their leaders for a good settlement. Below is a birds eye view of the ongoing 11th bipartite.
Members of the negotiating committee for the 11th Bipartite settlement is as below:
IBA is represented by
Shri.Rajkiranrai, Chairman Negotiating Committee (UBI), Shri.Prashant Kumar, DMD/CFO SBI, Shri.Alok Kumar Choudhary SBI, Shri. R.K.Sharma MD&CEO, IDBI, Shri.V.G.Kannan CEO IBA, Shri.B.Rajkumar Dy.CEO. IBA, Shri.S.K.Kakkar Sr.Advisor IBA, Shri.K.S.Chauhan Advisor IBA besides officials of personnel department of IBA.
UFBU has representatives from all its constituents:
- All India Bank Employees Association(AIBEA) – Shri C H Venkatachalam
- All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) – Shri S Nagarajan
- All India State Bank Officers Federation (AISBOF) – Shri Soumya Datta
- All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) – Shri Soumya Datta
- National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) – Shri Sanjeev K Bandlish
- National Organisation of Bank Workers(NOBW) – Shri Ahswini Rana
- National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) – Shri Viraj Tikekar
- Indian National Bank Officers Congress(INBOC) – Shri K K Nair
- Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) – Shri Deabsis Basu Chaudhury
So far there have been many rounds of discussions between the IBA and UFBU but the results have been far from desired, below is a snapshot of the number of negotiations and the outcome of the same, you can also gauge for yourself the momentum of the process.
| Date of Meeting | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 27-Oct-17 | Discussion on the charter of demands with IBA |
| 14-Nov-17 | Discussion on the charter of demands with IBA |
| 5-May-18 | IBA offers 2% increase |
| 11-May-18 | Strike call for 30 & 31st May 2019 |
| 16-May-18 | Meeting with IBA to discuss on medical insurance scheme |
| 12-Jun-18 | Discussions |
| 30-Jul-18 | Offer improved from 2% to 6% by IBA |
| 3-Sep-18 | Officers Associations submitted their demands |
| 29-Sep-18 | IBA proposes Fixed Pay & Variable Pay Scheme/Performance Linked Emoluments based on Operating Profits and Return on Assets, for the detailed circular click here. |
| 12-Oct-18 | Demand by UFBU: 1. IBA’s earlier offer of 6% should be substantially improved upon to work out a mutually acceptable wage accord. 2. IBA’s proposal of linking wage revision to Bank-wise Operating Profits and Return on Assets of individual Banks and thus breaking the existing system of equal wage for equal work is not acceptable to UFBU. 3. Issue of restricted mandate given by SBI, BOB, PNB, Union Bank of India and Indian Bank should be reviewed and resolved to cover all scales of Officers. IBA’s response: Advocated and advised to accept the formula of Bank-wise wage revision according to capacity to pay based on operating profits and further stated that their proposed formula can be modified or amended by further discussions but persisted with their stand that wage revision needs to be based on capacity of the different banks. |
| 30-Nov-18 | IBA increases its offer from 6% to 8% |
| 10-Dec-18 | Strike call for 26th Dec 2018 |
| 19-Dec-18 | Strike on 21st Dec 2018 Officers strike |
| 24-Dec-18 | Strike call for 26th Dec 2018 |
| 2-Feb-19 | In this round of discussion, the IBA increased its from the earlier 8% to 10%. The new scales will be constructed by merger of DA upto 6352 points of consumer price index. AIBOC and NOBO stayed away due to mandate issue. |
| 20-Feb-19 | From UFBU, representatives of AIBEA, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC and NOBW participated in the discussions and AIBOC and NOBO did not attend due to impasse on the mandate issue. |
| 19-Jun-19 | Nothing substantial discussed. The two big officers associations AIBOC and NOBO stayed away. |
| 29-Aug-19 | IBA did not come up with any improved proposal from its earlier offer of 10% increase. IBA informed that to consider of increasing offer of 10% and the mandate issue, it is necessary for the unions to discuss on Performance Linked Pay (PLP). IBA also proposed for constituting a sub-committee to discuss the PLP. |
| 18-Sep-19 | IBA improves its offer from 10% to 12% and asks officers associations to call off the strike on 26th and 27th Sep 2019. |
| 01-Oct-2019 | An unprecedented move by IBA to release adhoc salary comprising of one month basic and dearness allowance which will be adjusted from the arrears after the finalization of the Bipartite settlement. Unions register strong(token) disapproval, IBA unperturbed. |
| 18-Oct-2019 | Snacks, Tea and the road map for a pathetic settlement laid, detailed circular issued, nothing worthwhile to discuss. |
| 15-Nov-2019 | 1. Snacks and Tea, nothing worthwhile discussed. 2. Five day banking is out of discussion |
| 05-Dec-2019 | 1. Nothing substantial discussed. IBA stuck to its offer of 12%. 2. Discussion on 5 day banking is on is what the unions are stating in their latest circular. |
| 13-Jan-2020 | 1. IBA improves its offer from 12% to 12.25%. Basic pay will only be increased by 2%. 2. Performance linked pay to be introduced based on the profitability of banks. 3. Merger of special allowance with basic denied by IBA 4. 5 days banking rejected. 5. Leave encashment of 5 days a year. |
| 31-Jan-2020 01-feb-2020 | Conciliation talks with IBA fails, Strike observed by UFBU |
| 17-Feb-2020 | Meeting was only to fix the next date of meeting i.e. 5th March 2020 |
| 29-Feb-2020 | 3 days strike from 11th March on account of positive talks. |
| 22-jul-2020 | MOU signed with none of the demands being fulfilled. BEFI stayed away. |
| 11-Nov-2020 | The Bipartite settlement and the Joint note has been signed. |
As you can see the Bipartite settlement is a fairly complicated process and the banking sector is going through a tough time, most of the PSU banks are either running at a loss or the profits are just adequate to meet their expenses. The Bank unions and associations are also poor in their negotiations and does not seem much interested in clinching a good settlement. The wage negotiation of bankers that happens once in five years and takes close to 3 years to decide on the hike. The negotiations have finally concluded after a marathon discussion on 9th and 10th Oct and the 11th Bipartite settlement and the officer’s joint note has finally been signed on 11th Oct 2020.
Below are the highlights of the settlement:
* Cost:
Payslip component (2017): 52655 Cr. 15% increase: 7898 (Officers:4513 + Award:3385)
Basic+DA in 52655: 46187
Load in basic 2.50%: 1155 Cr
* Basic: DA merger at 47.80% (6352 points, 478/516 Merged slabs, 01-11-2016) + Load 2.5% of 46.90% (DA in Mar-2017).
Effect: 1.515 times increase in Basic.
In 10th BPS, only 2% load in basic.
* Old DA:
01-11-2017: 516 Slabs * 0.10 paise per slab = 51.60%
01-11-2020: 818 Slabs * 0.10 = 81.80%
New DA:
01-11-2017: 516 – 478 = 38 Slabs * 0.07 = 2.66%
01-11-2020: 818 – 478 = 340 Slabs * 0.07 = 23.80%
* SA (Spl Allowance): 16.40 % Award (from present 7.75%) + Transport Allowance with DA –> Effect: 18% SA
SA: 16.40% I to III (from present 7.75%)
SA: 19% IV & V (from present 10%)
SA: 20% VI & VI (from present 11%)
* One additional stagnation increment for Substaff, Clerical, Officers (some scale) as it will lead to higher basic –> higher pension.
* One additional Saturday holiday (5th Sat) (Approval pending from the Govt and does not find a mention in the settlement or the joint note)
* 1.515 times of PQP, FPP, Spl Pay (with increased passing powers)
HRA: 10.25% for all centres, all India for workmen, for officers no changes
CCA: 1400, 1150 and 700 for no CCA centres
* New Area Allowance for Non-CCA posting to encourage/compensate.
* New PL Encashment in a calendar year: 5 or 7 (Age:55+) days
* Non-NPS: Bank PF:(10% of basic 66070 = 6607) + Bank Pension: (10% of 66070 = 6607) = 20% of basic 66070 = 13,214
NPS: Bank 14% of Basic
* Employee contribution: (No change) PF 10% & NPS 10% (Basic+DA)
* Medical Cert Basis : For workmen 2355 from 2200 and officers 12000 from present 8000
* Substaff Basic:
14500 – 500/4 – 615/5 – 740/4 – 870/3 – 1000/3 – 28145
* Award Basic: (9 Stagnation increment, Uniform periodicity 2 yrs) 17900 – 1000/3 – 1230/3 – 1490/4
(1730/7 – 3270/1 – 1990/1 – 47920)
* Officer Basic: 36000 to 129000
* PLI (Performance Linked Incentive) Days: 0/5/10/15
* Family Pension Updation: 30% of Last Basic Salary
* Pension updation: like RBI before 30-12-2020 / 30-04-2021
* Why Pension Updation:
After 15 yrs, at age:75, Top level staff pension will be less than present Substaff pension.
Eg. DGM’s Basic pension in 1986: Rs.2500 (No revision for 35 yrs)
GM pension (1992-1997): 7125, (1997-2002):10650
Substaff pension (2007-2012): 7075, (2012-2017): 11893
