We Bankers Association filed a case at the officer of labour commissioner, seeking pay parity of Bank staff with central government employees.
The conciliation meeting between the United Forum of We Bankers and representatives of several public sector banks was held on 12 May 2026 but ended without any agreement in New Delhi.
The meeting was held at the Office of the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi, under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The proceedings were conducted by Conciliation Officer and Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) P.S. Karmase.
Representatives from the United Forum of We Bankers attended the meeting along with officials from Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), UCO Bank, Bank of India (BOI), Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Punjab & Sind Bank.
However, representatives from Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, State Bank of India (SBI), Indian Overseas Bank, and Bank of Baroda were absent. Officials from the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were also not present. Notices will be issued to the absent parties.
The discussions mainly focused on two important issues raised by the union.
The first demand was for the formation of a separate commission for bank employees. Alternatively, the union demanded that the matter be referred to a specially constituted National Tribunal. The union said this was necessary to ensure equality in salary, pension, and weekly working days between bank employees, Central Government employees, and employees of other public sector undertakings.
The second issue was related to pension regulations. The union alleged that the proper legal procedure under the Bank Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980 was not followed while amending pension regulations through an Extraordinary Gazette Notification issued on 13 January 2018.
According to the union, the amendment unfairly deprived employees who joined banks on or after 1 April 2010 from receiving pension benefits. The union claimed the amendment was implemented retrospectively from the employees’ joining date and violated mandatory legal provisions. The union requested an investigation under Section 11(4) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and demanded that pension benefits should also be extended to employees who joined banks on or after 1 April 2010.
On the other hand, representatives of the bank management denied all allegations made by the United Forum of We Bankers. They stated that the demands raised by the union had no merit and argued that the industrial dispute raised by the union was not maintainable.
The Conciliation Officer said sincere efforts were made to bring both sides to an agreement. However, due to differences in views between the parties, the conciliation proceedings ended without success.
