Resolutions adopted at 29th National Conference of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA)
Resolution
CONTRACT WORKERS AND OUTSOURCED, COST TO COMPANY EMPLOYEES
The 29th Conference of All India Bank Employees’ Association being held at Mumbai from 13th to 15th May, 2023, places its emphasis for building up a strong and principled opposition against the outsourcing and contractualisation of permanent jobs. A large number of employees under contracts are being employed by various banks and their number is growing. It is also a common knowledge that these kinds of workmen are the most exploited sections and the exploitation resorted to by both the managements and the contractors are inhuman. There is a dire need to organize this category of workmen under the banner of AIBEA and to protect them.
All the State Federations should organize the Contract and Outsourced Workers, Cost to Company Employees of the Banks, both from Public Sector, Private Banks and Foreign Banks. This is the need of the hour. Some of the State Federations like Tamilnadu and West Bengal, have already organized the Contract and Outsourced Workers and the Cost to Company employees. However, it is regrettable that not much interest is shown from many of the State Federations to organize this category of employees. These employees are growing large in number and the banks are exploiting them without any service conditions, leave including maternity leave for women employees and at paltry wages. The Bankwise Unions should also take special efforts in organizing them by making them members of the Organisation to be formed by the respective State Federations.
The Conference takes into cognizance and notes with satisfaction the Judgments pronounced by the Honourable Supreme Court of India upholding the dictum of “Equal Pay for Equal Work”. The Conference directs all the Bank-wise unions to take up with their respective Bank Managements to ensure payment of “Equal Pay for Equal Work” for contract and outsourced employees engaged by the respective Banks.
This Conference resolves further that in order to safeguard the interests of the Contract Workers and Outsourced employees, the demand for absorption of all contract workers/outsourced employees as permanent workmen of the respective banks shall have to be pursued and achieved at all costs including through organisational action and to that effect, AIBEA advises all the State Federations and the Bank-wise Unions to take all efforts to secure better wage and service conditions and the job security of the contract and outsourced workers.
Resolution
TEMPORARY, CASUAL AND DAILY WAGE EMPLOYEES
For the past few years, there has been no recruitment in the subordinate staff cadres viz., peons and sweepers. The vacancies are not filled up through recruitment and instead temporary, casual and daily wagers are being engaged. In all the Banks, in almost more than 75% of the branches, the temporary employees are being engaged. However, they are not paid pro rata wages and are paid only ad hoc amounts, which are paltry. Their wages have been paid arbitrarily and in more than 90% of the cases, they are dismal. The temporary, casual and daily-wage employees are the most exploited category of workmen. They are made to work beyond 10 hours a day on a daily basis.
This 29th Conference of AIBEA being held at Mumbai from 13th to 15th May, 2023, exhorts the Bank-wise Unions to take up the issue of the temporary employees in right earnest not only for payment of pro rata wages in terms of “Equal Pay for Equal Work” as upheld by the Honourable Supreme Court of India but also for their absorption. If need be, the Bank-wise unions shall have to launch agitational actions including strikes on this issue. At the All India level, the incoming Central Committee shall take such decisions as deemed fit and necessary including organisational actions on this issue.