Pursuant to the decision taken in our Mumbai Conference and the detailed deliberations of the All India Bankwise Unions leaders’ meeting held at Bengaluru, the Central Committee of AIBEA met at Guwahati, Assam and adopted the following Resolution and gave the clarion call for series of agitational programmes and strike actions.
RESOLUTION
In continuation of the decision taken in our 29th Conference, our demand for adequate recruitments in the Banks was discussed in detail in the Central Committee meeting of AIBEA held at Guwahati in Assam on the 10th and 11th September, 2023.
The meeting took note of the calculated tendency on the part of the Bank managements to avoid recruitment of adequate staff in clerical and substaff cadre including part time employees. The number of recruitments in clerical cadre has come down drastically in the recent years. There is virtually no recruitment of substaff and part time employees for the past few years in most of the Banks.
The net result of non-recruitment of adequate workmen staff in the Banks is deterioration in customer services and increased workload of existing employees affecting their quality of work.
In many branches employees are unable to complete their daily routine work within the office hours and are compelled to sit late. This is resulting in work- related stress and employees find it difficult to cope up with the same.
Instances are increasing where due to such shortage of staff, the legitimate leave entitlements of the employees are being denied by local branch management. Particularly, young employees in single-staff branches face this problem more often. There are also complaints and grievances of women employees who are finding it difficult to avail leave even for urgent exigencies.
It is ironical that while the top managements are so fussy about employees availing mandatory leave, the branch managements are unable to implement this due to shortage of staff. It is also reported that in many cases, the employee is officially on mandatory leave but unofficially the employee is asked to work in the Branches due to shortage of staff.
Similarly, in many Branches, officers are compelled to sit in the counters and do routine clerical work.
The non-filling up of substaff and part time employees’ vacancies is also resulting in engagement of large number temporary employees in the Banks creating a huge pool of such employees and leading to innumerable legal claims.
Further, the reluctance to recruit adequate staff also stems from their plan and efforts to outsource our permanent jobs. This is also on account of their naked move to make the Banks officer-oriented.
Over the last few years, the total business volume has increased in the banks and owing to the competition among the banks, new services or new products are being introduced to the customers on a day-to-day basis. The traditional banking has given way to product banking.
Innumerable services have been introduced including selling of third party products coupled with the fact that the total traditional banking business getting doubled. However, the recruitment has not matched with the workload increase. While the workload increase is manifold, the recruitment made by the banks is a pittance.
In many banks, after the merger, there has been a sharp decline in recruitment even though the workload has increased and in some other, there is no recruitment in the past few years.
The vacancies under substaff and sweepers’ cadres are not given due importance and the recruitments are comparatively less in clerical cadre and almost NIL in Substaff and Sweepers’ cadres. It is learnt that Government has conveyed some instructions to the Banks in this regard.
The volume of business has increased manifold but because of the inadequate staff strength, the staff at the counter are finding it difficult to extend courteous and quality customer service to the clientele of the banks.
Adequate recruitment of staff in clerical and substaff cadres in the banks has become an urgent necessity since large number of existing vacancies remain unfilled.
in this background, the Central Committee is of the considered view that the situation is grave enough warranting to press the demand for adequate recruitment through prolonged agitational programmes and strike actions.
Accordingly the CC unanimously decides on series of agitational programmes including bankwise strikes in December, 2023 and State-wise strikes in January, 2024 and culminating in 2 days continuous All India Bank Strike on 19th and 20th January, 2024.
The Central Committee exhorts all our unions and entire membership all over the country to rise as on man and move from now on to implement the agitational programmes and strike actions a total success.
