Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The government recently announced that it was putting on hold the performance-linked incentive system it had planned for public sector bank employees. However, the employees still went ahead with their strike on September eleventh, saying not all of their grievances have been addressed. What are their main grievances? One of the main reasons the United Forum of Bank Unions, the umbrella body of seven bank employee unions, called for a nationwide strike on September eleventh was to protest the PLI scheme announced by the Department of Financial Services in November twenty twenty-four and applicable for the financial year twenty twenty-five to twenty twenty-six. This revised PLI scheme was applicable only to Scale Four officers and above, a major point of contention. It allows these senior officers to receive PLI of up to three hundred sixty-five days of basic pay based on individual performance. This, according to the employee unions, was discriminatory in nature as it was a significant departure from the uniform fifteen days basic pay plus dearness allowance formula applicable to the rest of the workforce. The revised PLI scheme was also a departure from the agreement between the unions and the Indian Banks' Association in twenty twenty under which the PLI was to be linked to the overall performance of individual banks and would be uniform for employees and officers. The second demand by the bank employees was for a five-day work week. The bank employees had in twenty twenty-four suggested increasing the work timings per day by forty minutes so that there would not be a reduction in the total hours worked per week. This proposal has been pending with the government. The bank employees had some other residual demands, such as a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System to switch to the Old Pension Scheme. These, too, remain unresolved. What has the government done to address the strike call? A delegation of bank employees, led by the labour wing of the RSS, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and officials of the Department of Financial Services on September eighth. Following the meeting, the Ministry of Finance announced that the PLI would be put on hold pending further discussion. It added that the bank employees also raised the issues of a review of ex-gratia and providing medical facilities for retired employees, among other concerns related to employees. Why did this not work? Following the meeting, UFBU took to social media to acknowledge that the meeting did take place and confirmed the agreement with the government to put the PLI scheme on hold. However, it added that there was "no positive development" regarding its demand for a five-day work week. As a result, the strike call remained in effect. In fact, the bank unions have threatened another three-day nationwide strike from September twenty-eight to thirty, coinciding with the half-yearly closing period. They have also warned of a "continuous indefinite strike" from October twenty-sixth if their demands remain unaddressed. What has been the immediate impact of the strike? The bank unions have timed their strike carefully. The strike on September eleventh meant that branch banking services were disrupted for four days in many parts of the country. The strike fell on a Friday, September eleventh. Saturday, September twelfth, was the second Saturday of the month, which is a day off for banks. Sunday, September thirteenth, is a weekly off. Monday, September fourteenth, is Ganesh Chaturthi, which is a holiday in several States across the country. While the rise of app-based and Internet banking has led to falling footfall at bank branches, they remain the sole point of banking access for many senior citizens and customers in rural and semi-rural India. Several services, such as cheque and cash deposits, also still require customers to visit a bank branch. Reports from across the country showed that most branches of public sector banks were either completely or partially closed on Saturday, with officers and employees taking part in the strike. This meant that physical services such as cash deposits, withdrawals, cheque clearances, and administrative work ground to a halt.