The Hindu Business Line : Bank on consensus

Ever since the boards of the associate banks of State Bank of India decided in early December that the time had come to merge with SBI, the air is thick with news that bank unions would oppose the proposal. With the boards now scheduled to meet on January 24, the nine major unions that have come together under the United Forum of Bank Unions have decided to strike work the next day and threaten to do so every month if the government decides to go ahead with the merger. Th e unions have other grouses that relate to wage revision settlements, pension schemes and outsourcing of banking services. The proposed merger is the most significant of the many changes that unions have opposed; and, hence, the one that the government and the managements will have to negotiate with care and diplomacy.

Belated as it is, the move to invite the unions for talks with the boards just two days before the managements decide on the merger should be viewed as an opportunity for the unions to negotiate in a spirit of consensus that may fetch their members far more than taking to the streets. Public sector bank employees are aware that the changes wrought in the economy and the financial system over the last 15 years have altered the balance of power between the PSBs and the private banks. Nationalised banks still account for more than 47 per cent of aggregate deposits and gross bank credit but the new private banks and foreign counterparts are getting into the same turf with new products and services and new skills requirements. While the unions are locked in wage revision spats, private banks are attracting new skills with commensurate pay; that norm allows competitive promotions unlike the PSBs where ambition and skill have to queue behind seniority. The fact that private banks can simply pick the best talent with pay their public sector counterparts cannot afford leaves the employees that much poorer by comparison.

Employees of the nationalised banks must leverage their position for change to benefit the best among them and the future employees as well. It is pointless for the unions to insist that vacancies be filled. The banking system will require the old skills such as ledger keeping, balancing books of accounts less than the knowledge of new delivery channels for the banks and customers. Today, PSBs need specialist skills for new services and products, not generalist bankers to man new branches; they need new pay policies to attract fresh blood, not fiefdoms to guard the status quo.

Related Stories:
Boards of 6 SBI associates to consider merger move on Jan 25
SBI staff body to oppose merger of associate banks

More Stories on : Editorial | Mergers & Acquisitions | Public Sector Banks

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Bank on consensus

Time to march forward

Good profits, bad profits

Case for duty-free import of edible oils

End of sub-prime loan consumption

Two too many

Plan for the unbanked

Employing the handicapped