Why do banks remain afraid of dealing with trade unions?

An industry wage pact is a bizarre performance appraisal as the benchmark for such a pact is the paying capacity of the weakest of banks

If you think the once-powerful bank trade unions have become toothless tigers, you’re mistaken. They can’t bite the way they could do till a decade ago through frequent strikes but they have not lost their fangs as yet. This is why the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), the premier industry lobby, has not been able to close the industry wage page — the 11th bipartite settlement — even after two years. The previous agreement expired on October 31, 2017.

Of course, such long discussions have been the tradition and there is no hurry since irrespective of the date of signing the