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A fresh controversy has emerged among bank employees and union leaders over the delay in the implementation of five-day banking. Senior trade union leaders Krishna Kumar (GS, AIPNBOF) and C.H. Venkatachalam (GS, AIBEA) have exchanged strong statements on social media regarding what happened during the negotiations for the 12th Bipartite Settlement.
Krishna Kumar, in a post on X, shared that NOBO and NOBW strongly wanted to sign 12th BPS without 5-day Banking. All the 9 leaders of UFBU including NOBO and NOBW destroyed the dream of achieving 5-day Banking in 12th BPS.
He strongly blamed UFBU Leaders for not taking stand on 5-day banking. According to Krishna Kumar, he attended UFBU meetings and also visited the IBA office during the negotiations. He said that on 7 December 2023, when the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, he was present at the IBA office. However, due to a legal order under which S.Nagarajan was given a seat from the AIBOA side, Krishna Kumar said he was not part of the actual negotiations.
During a break in the meeting, he strongly argued against signing the MoU without a clear declaration from the Government of India regarding the date of implementation of five-day banking.
He requested Union Leaders to sign the 12th BPS only after Government declares the date for implementation of 5-day banking but UFBU leaders signed 12th BPS without any actual confirmation from Government.
Krishna Kumar said he made this request to the negotiators, including C.H. Venkatachalam and Rupam Roy (GS, AIBOC), but UFBU leaders said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to win the 2024 general election with a large majority and that there was uncertainty about whether the pay hike would be achieved later. Therefore, UFBU leaders wanted to secure the pay hike first and seek five-day banking later.
Krishna Kumar said he disagreed with this approach. He pointed out that the Modi government had come to power in 2014 and the next joint note was signed in 2015. He also stated that the government had introduced the benefit of two Saturdays off for bank employees.
He further referred to the 2019 general election and said that the next bipartite settlement/joint note was signed in 2020. Based on this, he argued that even if the government changed after the 2024 election, the wage revision would still have taken place in 2025.
According to Krishna Kumar, there was therefore no need to hurry to sign the MoU without securing a definite implementation date for five-day banking.
He said that the other negotiators had already made up their minds to sign the MoU that night. Krishna Kumar stated that he left the IBA office at around 10 PM and, as he had not purchased a return ticket, booked the next available flight and returned to Delhi.
He further claimed that he did not visit the IBA office again after that because he was opposed to signing the MoU without a definite date for five-day banking.
Krishna Kumar also claimed that he had received information from inside the system that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) was in favour of five-day banking.
He alleged that on the night of 7 December 2023, NOBO and NOBW were among the strongest advocates for signing the MoU.
Krishna Kumar said that all nine negotiators, including S. Nagarajan, should be held responsible for five-day banking not being implemented. He further alleged that three major union leaders were more responsible than others.
C.H. Venkatachalam Rejects Krishna Kumar’s Claims
C.H. Venkatachalam strongly reacted to Krishna Kumar’s statement. He said that he had respected Krishna Kumar until now, but that respect was lost after Krishna Kumar’s latest comments.
Venkatachalam accused Krishna Kumar of telling “untruth and half truth” in an attempt to become popular. He said that Krishna Kumar’s understanding of the trade union movement was shallow and criticised him of attempting to instigate members rather than finding a solution.
According to Venkatachalam, “playing to the gallery” may be easy in trade union activities, but such an approach could harm the union movement. He said Krishna Kumar was doing a disservice to the union movement and described the development as unfortunate.
Venkatachalam also said that members want a solution, not instigation. He hoped that Krishna Kumar would change his approach and adopt a more positive position.
He further said that Krishna Kumar could play a constructive role by remaining positive, but instead he was wasting his time and affecting the mindset of officers.
The exchange has added another dimension to the ongoing debate among bank employees over the delay in implementing five-day banking. While Krishna Kumar has raised questions about the decisions taken during the 2023 negotiations, Venkatachalam has rejected the allegations and defended the approach taken by the union leadership.
