The term “comrade” is one that is frequently bandied about between fellow union workers when they address each other as a form of friendly greeting.

But seldom has that word meant as much as when members of bank trade unions came together to support a colleague who had been denied his pension and retirement benefits.

Joint effort

PV Mohanan, a veteran trade union leader in the banking sector in Kerala, is yet to come to terms with the show of solidarity by his trade union colleagues who, with the support of the State government employees’ organisations, raised over ₹50 lakh after he was denied pension and other retirement benefits by his employer Dhanlaxmi Bank.

Trade unions in the banking industry — such as All India Bank Officers Confederation, Dhanlaxmi Bank Officers Organisation, Bank Employees Federation of India, Kerala NGO Unions, and AG’s Office unions — formed the PV Mohanan Struggle Committee, which received generous contributions from workers in its account at Kerala Gramin Bank, Thrissur branch.

The committee collected ₹53,04,875, which was handed over to Mohanan by trade union leaders at a function held in Thrissur on Thursday.

Mohanan, a former Dhanlaxmi Bank senior manager and trade union leader of the Bank Officers Movement, was removed from service in June 2015, leading to an uproar in the banking sector in Kerala, and culminating in a 33-day strike by bank officers.

It had also led to differences at the board level with one director resigning in protest.

Later, at the intervention of the then Kerala Government, the management allowed Mohanan a honourable exit but not before refusing him the eligible benefits.

A suit filed by Mohanan seeking ₹1 crore as damages for denial of pension and other benefits is pending in the Sub Court, Thrissur.

‘Big moral support’

When contacted, Mohanan told BusinessLine that “such public gestures will be a big moral support for people engaged in trade union activities, besides encouraging others to join hands for the common cause of workers in all sectors, especially during this period of uncertainty”.

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