The All India State Bank Officers’ Federation (AISBOF), an organization of about three lakh employees of SBI, has rejected the proposed 17.5 per cent wage hike for the bank employees.
The federation has threatened to go for an indefinite strike, demanding separate wage negotiation for the employees of the largest bank of the country.
It may be noted that The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the United Federation of Banking Unions (UFBU), representing nine bank employees' associations, on Friday agreed for a 17.5 per cent wage hike and pension benefits after a prolonged discussion.
However, this wage hike was spurned by AISBOF.
“We are not in agreement with the salary hike of the bank employees. We want the increase should be at par with the increase in salaries of the Central government employees”, said SK Haldar, vice-president of AISBOF.
Haldar was here to attend the zonal conference of the SBI Officers’ Association.
“Our representatives were not in agreement in the wage settlement meeting between the IBA and UFBU and we will chalk out the future course of action in a meeting to be held on Tuesday”, Haldar said.
The federation also demanded recruitment of more staff for SBI as the bank was grappling with manpower crunch.
Besides, it has called for greater security for the bank staff, particularly in the Naxal infested areas.
“The SBI officers have lost their sleep due to the Maoist attack near the SBI branches at R Udayagiri, Daringibadi, Kalimela, Malkanagiri, Gudari, Chirakonda and Machkund in Orissa in recent times”, said LN Patra, the zonal secretary of AISBOF.
Despite the Maoist attack, the SBI authorities have not yet realized the need to review and augment the security arrangements at the bank branches and ATM counters, Patra added.
He also demanded for the repair of the branch buildings in several places of the state, which are in dilapidated condition.
The branches of SBI in the state in locations like Jeypore, Tikiri, Matikhala, Berhampur Bazar, Daringibadi, Kotagarh, Thuamula-Rampur and Kamalapur are in a dilapidated condition and need to be repaired from the security point of view, he stated
