All our units are aware that 20th April, 2022 marks the 77th Founding Day of our beloved AIBEA.
Looking back at the path covered so far, it has been very tough, challenging, and zigzag but at the same time very exciting, inspiring and very satisfying.
It has been a continuous path of organising, mobilising and uniting the bank employees under the protective umbrella of trade union movement.
All along, it has been an incessant path of unremitting struggles and endeavours to ameliorate the economic conditions and living standard of bank employees.
In between the journey, we have seen attacks of the successive Governments and managements on many occasions but with our magical unity and magnificent militancy, we have overcome all these obstacles.
Envy, jealousy, animosity and there were attempts of disruption to weaken our organisation but hats off to the Niagara-like ever flowing love and loyalty, affection and dedication, conviction and commitment, our members have defeated all these attempts and kept our organisation ever-shining.
Above all, our leaders and founding fathers were embodiment of sacrifice, guided by their vision to espouse the cause of bank employees and mission to build up this mighty edifice, have virtually turned mud into gold. They have achieved the impossible for us – from anarchy to regulated and secured service conditions, from slavery to dignity, from beggary to collective bargaining, from paltry wages to better wages and impressive service conditions today.
We are conscious that we are typical middle-class employees with all our vacillations and hesitations. But yet we adopted the working class form of organisation, the trade union. Hence we have our strong AIBEA.
We are mindful that we are typical middle-class employees with all our inconsistencies and contradictions. But yet we adopted the working class method of organisation, the path of struggles to advance further. Hence we have achieved many things and travelled thus far.
It is equally imperative that we adopt the working class ideology, the goal to fight for an exploitation-free society, when we get the due share of the wealth we all workers create.
We all know that it is the workers who with their blood, sweat and toil create wealth. But we are passing through times when the people in power glorify the Corporates as wealth creators and shower all concession to them while the workers and masses continue to suffer from deprivations.
We are also amidst the situation where public sector which has been responsible to build our modern India is under attack. Privation, disinvestment or monetization, are one and the same aimed to surrender national assets to the Corporates.
Banks which handle the huge and precious savings of the common people are sought to be handed over to profit greedy private vested interests.
There are increasing attacks on our labour rights, on our jobs, on our job security, on our future.
Our founding fathers, great leaders, and predecessors fought many battles and got us all that we enjoy today. It is our duty today to continue the struggle and safeguard the future of the present young generation of bank employees.
Let this Founding Day be yet another occasion to renew our pledge and deepen our resolve to continue our efforts and endeavour to fortify the organisation to meet the aggressively increasing challenges.
As our great leader and architect of AIBEA late Com. Prabhat Kar used to say,
without organisation, we are armless,
and with organisation, we are an army.
Let us strengthen our Unions and strengthen ourselves. With greetings,
Yours comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM GENERAL SECRETARY