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Unions plan meet on wage issue

Our Bureau

CALCUTTA, June 23

SEVERAL unions of bank employees and officers will meet here on July 5 to discuss the issue of the non-implementation of the revised wages in three banks, namely, United Bank of India, UCO Bank and Indian Bank.

``At the end of the meeting, the unions will announce their action programme which may include a bank strike some time in July,'' according to a statement issued jointly by Mr. Tarakeswar Chakraborty, General Secretary of the All-India Bank Employees' As sociation and Mr. S. R. Sengupta, General Secretary of the All-India Bank Officers' Confederation.

``We hope wise counsel will prevail upon the Government and the Indian Banks' Association so that the bank employees are not forced to take to the streets for an early implementation of the settlement already cleared by the Government,'' the statement ad ded.

The unions, it was clearly stated, would go all-out to uphold the sanctity of collective bargaining settlement under the ID Act.

The IBA had signed a wage agreement with the bank officers' unions on December 14, 1999, and with the employees' unions on March 27, 2000, covering all public sector banks and those private banks that had given it the authority to sign the agreements. Ho wever, at the instance of the Union Government, the implementation of the revised wages has been held back in United Bank, UCO Bank and Indian Bank.

Several appeals by the unions for an immediate implementation of the revised wages in these three banks have not elicited a positive response.