The more than 3000 Delegates and Observers to the 29th National Conference of AIBEA held at Mumbai from 13th to 15th May, 2023 were a witness to the huge success of the Conference.
13th May, 2023 – Inaugural Public Session :
The inaugural public session Conference was held in the evening of the 13th May, 2023. Com. Rajen Nagar, President, AIBEA, presided over the inaugural public session.
Chairman of the Reception Committee, Com. P. Sainath, began his welcome address by stating that AIBEA has always been in the frontline of the fight against rural crisis. He explained the increasing contradiction between the continued distress of the rural poor and farmers while news additions are being made to the Forbes list of Billionaires. He spoke of the sale of public sector in our country which are the backbone of our economy. He also lamented the continued loot of public money in the name of write off of bad loans in the Banks favouring the big corporate houses like Kingfisher Malya, Nirav Modi, etc. He cautioned that we are in a period of extreme inequality and the jobs and job security will be at stake with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence.
Com. Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, AITUC, recalled that it was in the city of Mumbai, then Bombay, the AITUC was founded on 31st October, 1920. She retraced the history of the Working Class Struggles since mid-1800s that ultimately culminated in the foundation of AITUC. She said that it started the struggle of the Working Class demanding fixed working hours, service conditions etc. Even though Central Trade Unions have been fighting against the neo-liberal economy since last more than three decades, the fight has become more intensified after the present government came to power as they have increased their pace of their reforms agenda.
Com. Pambis Kyritsis, General Secretary, World Federation of Trade Unions, said that AIBEA is a class oriented trade union taking up the issues that confront the bank employees and also in defending the trade union rights. When the workers are marginalized due to price rise, job losses, unemployment, the capitalists and the corporates are enhancing their assets. The trade union freedom, collective bargaining, the job security are at stake due to the wrongful policies of the governments the world over and India is no exception. WFTU calls upon the militant unions to protect the economy, trade unions and the workers rights from the monopoly capital. The bank and insurance sector play an important role in the economy of the countries and privatisation in banking system is the order of the day in the world. Attacks on wages, pension reforms, are to be fought against. Unfortunately, in India, the present government is following the rightwing policies of supporting the corporates, monopolies and the multinationals by marginalizing the labour laws. The present government is trying to privatise the public sector banks. He concluded by wishing the Conference all success.
Com. Sanjeev Bandlish, Convenor, UFBU said that the Conference will discuss the issues that are confronting the bank employees especially the 5-day banking, Updation of pension etc., and come to such conclusions that will charter future course of action.
Com. Sukhdev Singh, Kisan leader said that the present government is trying to handover the farm lands to the multinational corporates. The World Economic Forum was behind the enactment of the farm laws. When discussions were taking place to end the farmers’ struggles, there was no answer from the government to the questions from the farmers. Farmers’ community realised that it was a “do or die” situation and therefore, they were ready for a fight to the finish. The government was trying to break the unity of the farmers but, the farmers stood firm and united. The united force of the farmers including the agricultural labourers and their decision to stay united yielded the results ultimately.
Fraternal Greetings from LIC, GIC, AIBOA and AIBRF: Com. Rajesh Kumar, General Secretary, All India LIC Employees’ Federation, Com. Trilok Singh, General Secretary, GIEAIA, Com. Sanjay Khan of AIBOA, Com. S. C. Jain, General Secretary, AIBRF greeting the Conference and conveyed their best wishes for the success of our Conference.
Foreign Delegates: 39 leaders of fraternal trade unions from 12 countries, viz. from Cyprus. Brazil, Belarus, Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Palestine, Nepal and Denmark participated in our countries and conveyed their fraternal messages.
Ms. Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament in her address stated that what the Public Sector Banks could reach to the poorest sections of the people, the private sector banks could never do. Cooperative Banks have been doing a wonderful job in taking banking to the rural areas, agriculturists. Hence she felt that the Government should talk to the Unions before taking any decision on privatisation of Banks.
Sri. Arvind Sawant, Member of Parliament in his speech said that the Government is trying to kill the financial sector including insurance and banking industry. In 1969, banks were nationalised because the banking should reach the common people. It also created employment to the people. Today, the government is trying to reverse the process. There may be flaws in the banking industry but privatisation is not the solution.
Com. Binoy Viswam, Member of Parliament spoke about his long association with AIBEA right from his student days. He appreciated the leading role being played by AIBEA in fighting against the policy of privatisation of Banks. He exhorted bank employees to understand the impact of the political policies of the Government and play a leading role in resisting these anti-people policies of the Government.
Dr. Prof. Yugal Rayalu lauded the role of AIBEA in leading the struggle against privatisation of Banks He complimented AIBEA that In the last 30 years, 53 days’ strike have been organised against privatisation and ill-advised banking reforms policies. If banks remain in Public Sector, it is not a gift from anyone but because of the fight of AIBEA.
Launching of “Bank Clinic”: It was announced in the Conference that the pilot project “Bank Clinic” will be launched in Mumbai on 19th July, 2023.to help the customers and to educate them .
Address by Dr. Balachandra Kango said that our activities should be people- oriented. He congratulated AIBEA for its decision to educate our comrades through regular trade union classes. He said that the concept of “Bank Clinic” is a good initiative and suggested to continue with it and connect with the customers.
Delegates’ Session – 13th May, 2023: The General Secretary presented the Report to the Delegates recalling developmdents since the last Conference and our experiences during the period under review. He highlighted the present scenario which is hostile to the interests of the working people and common masses. He emphasized the need to address our organizational weaknesses so that we can present a stronger AIBEA to face the multiple attacks confronting the bank employees.
Deliberations on the Report and adoption of the Report : 90 Delegates spoke on the Report and expressed their various viewpoints. After necessary reply and clarifications, the Report was adopted unanimously.
Statements of Accounts: The Statements of Accounts of AIEBA for the years 2016 to 2022 were placed before the general body and the same was approved unanimously.
Amendments to Rules and Bye Laws: The proposal of the General Secretary to amend the By Laws to provide additional office bearers and CC members was approved by the house unanimously.
Resolutions: 35 Resolutions on various important issues and demands were presented and approved unanimously. The Conference resolved to implement these resolutions and demands through further follow up actions including strike actions to realise the demands.
Election of new Team: The General Secretary proposed a panel of names for the new Team and the same was accepted and approved unanimously by thunderous applause .
The entire house thanked and appreciated the elaborate, ornate, meticulous and painstaking arrangements made by the Reception Committee of Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation led by Com. Nandu Chavan, Com. Tuljapurkar and Com. Lalita Joshi and the round-the-clock services rendered by the volunteers to make the Conference a success.