10 lakh bankers to go on 2-day strike May 30-31
Chennai, May 29 : Over 10 lakh bankers in the government and private sectors are gearing up for a two-day strike starting on May 30, as the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) did not make any improved offer over the two per cent wage hike made earlier, an All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader said. The strike is spearheaded by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions.
The bankers would strike work demanding early revision of the wages. The wage revision has been due since November 1, 2017.
"It is now too late for us to go back on our strike call. We had requested the IBA to come up with a better offer than the mere two per cent hike offer made earlier.
"We also asked the IBA not to delink the wage negotiations for bank officers in the Scales 4-7. The IBA did not do anything," AIBEA General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told IANS.
He said at the conciliation meeting held on Monday, the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) had asked the IBA not to raise new controversies like delinking the wage talks for officers in the 4-7 scale.
"Though the CLC tried its best to sort out the strike issues, there is no positive developments. Hence strike on May 30 and 31 (Wednesday and Thursday) stands," All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) General Secretary D.T. Franco said.
According to Venkatachalam, with regard to the coverage of officers from Scale 4-7 the IBA said it did not get the mandate from six banks as they opted to cover officers up to Scale 3 level.
However, 14 banks have given the mandate for covering the officers up to Scale 7 in wage negotiations as was done in the previous wage settlement negotiations, he said.
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BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
