The sycophants of the management forecasted that there will not be any strike on 22nd January 2007. When it became certain that the strike will take place they came forward with another forecast that the participation will be hardly between 10% and 30%. They were aghast when the participation reports started pouring in. The strike was a phenomenal success. The percentage of success was unbelievable and unacceptable to the management. How such participation reports could come in spite of the following:
i. The ZO’s / RO’s have shown the branches functional which have simply opened the shutters even though the employees and officers were on strike and no transactions had taken place.
ii. The branches were shown open by asking the staff, who were on strike, to telephone to the controlling office that the branch is open. Such calls were reportedly accepted even up to 4.30 p.m. on 22nd January 2007.
iii. Where the Executives were ‘Meharwan’ they had reportedly shown their loved ones on duty on 22nd January 2007 without mentioning their assignment and without their signing the muster.
iv. The Executives had called the employees and officers working in their department / office one by one and threatened them of dire consequences if they participate in strike.
v. The staff on sanctioned leave had reportedly been shown as present.
In spite of all above stated unethical and patently wrong measures taken, the strike was unprecedentedly successful. The participation of over 93% employees and officers is really magnificent. It was spontaneous, whole hearted and with conviction, commitment confidence and without use of any ‘muscle power’.
The nervous management decided, as was expected, to go for wholesale victimization by issuance of charge-sheets and memos to over 7000 employees and officers whose branches / offices could not open due to highly successful strike. This action is a blatant attack on the Trade Union rights, Fundamental Rights of the employees and officers to form unions and to adopt legitimate agitational path for the redressal of their grievances.
1. Was it the first strike in the Bank or the banking industry when the branches / offices could not open at all? Whether more than 9000 branches / offices did not remain closed in the indefinite strike of SBI in April 2006?
2. When the concerned unions i.e. UFCBU had given due notice of strike, was the management not aware that the strike will take place on 22nd January 2007?
3. Whether the management had made any arrangements by deputing the eligible staff to take charge of the branch / office / cash and such charge was not given? Even when the management did not depute any one to take charge and in fact when they did not have any one to deputed for taking the charge, did the management expect the key holders to leave the offices / cash open whey they were going on strike?
4. The responsibility of arranging to take charge was squarely of the management. The employees and officers going on strike as per the call of the unions were not required by any system or by any provisions of law to search for somebody to handover charge of the branch / office / cash.
5. When the unions had given the notice, under which provisions the management asked the employees and officers to submit individual letters for their participation / non – participation in the strike?
6. In which Bank in the industry such vindictive action has been taken for the legitimate participation of the employees and officers in the strike? Since when participation in strike bas become a misconduct under Conduct regulations or Bi-partite Settlements?
7. What was the need to fill in the formats for issuing the directed charge sheets and memos for each staff member and for awarding the pre-determined punishment to more than 7000 employees and officers? Instead the management could have issued a circular by printing all names and the punishment awarded thereof, as was done in a Southern State against the agitating State Government employees.
These questions have no place for the management of our Bank which does not have any regard for the sanctity of the Trade Union rights. Fundamental Rights, Law of the Land and Bilateralism. The management is under misconception that such measures would create panic. Instead they will add to the agitated feelings of the staff members. If the repressive measures would have succeeded, then the country’s independence war would not have succeeded after hanging of hundreds and hundreds of protestors. For that matter, no protest would have been possible if the repression or victimization was the medicine to bust such protest.
As was expected, thousands of calls and messages were received from the staff members that unions have maintained enough restrain. The general feeling amongst the staff was that the UFCBU should proceed with continuous strike call for the resolution of their grievances which pertained to the attitude and approach of the management towards bilateralism, the employees and officers, their unions, their leaders and their basic trade union rights.
Comrades, UFCBU is on right path. The management is adopting unethical, legally untenable and vindictive agitational path through memos, charge sheets, transfers, suspensions etc. It is an agitation of more than 40000 employees and officers i.e. ‘PRAJA’. Protest by all employees and officers i.e. ‘public’ for the justified issues always succeeds. UFCBU will succeed too in getting the redressal of your grievances.
i. The ZO’s / RO’s have shown the branches functional which have simply opened the shutters even though the employees and officers were on strike and no transactions had taken place.
ii. The branches were shown open by asking the staff, who were on strike, to telephone to the controlling office that the branch is open. Such calls were reportedly accepted even up to 4.30 p.m. on 22nd January 2007.
iii. Where the Executives were ‘Meharwan’ they had reportedly shown their loved ones on duty on 22nd January 2007 without mentioning their assignment and without their signing the muster.
iv. The Executives had called the employees and officers working in their department / office one by one and threatened them of dire consequences if they participate in strike.
v. The staff on sanctioned leave had reportedly been shown as present.
In spite of all above stated unethical and patently wrong measures taken, the strike was unprecedentedly successful. The participation of over 93% employees and officers is really magnificent. It was spontaneous, whole hearted and with conviction, commitment confidence and without use of any ‘muscle power’.
The nervous management decided, as was expected, to go for wholesale victimization by issuance of charge-sheets and memos to over 7000 employees and officers whose branches / offices could not open due to highly successful strike. This action is a blatant attack on the Trade Union rights, Fundamental Rights of the employees and officers to form unions and to adopt legitimate agitational path for the redressal of their grievances.
1. Was it the first strike in the Bank or the banking industry when the branches / offices could not open at all? Whether more than 9000 branches / offices did not remain closed in the indefinite strike of SBI in April 2006?
2. When the concerned unions i.e. UFCBU had given due notice of strike, was the management not aware that the strike will take place on 22nd January 2007?
3. Whether the management had made any arrangements by deputing the eligible staff to take charge of the branch / office / cash and such charge was not given? Even when the management did not depute any one to take charge and in fact when they did not have any one to deputed for taking the charge, did the management expect the key holders to leave the offices / cash open whey they were going on strike?
4. The responsibility of arranging to take charge was squarely of the management. The employees and officers going on strike as per the call of the unions were not required by any system or by any provisions of law to search for somebody to handover charge of the branch / office / cash.
5. When the unions had given the notice, under which provisions the management asked the employees and officers to submit individual letters for their participation / non – participation in the strike?
6. In which Bank in the industry such vindictive action has been taken for the legitimate participation of the employees and officers in the strike? Since when participation in strike bas become a misconduct under Conduct regulations or Bi-partite Settlements?
7. What was the need to fill in the formats for issuing the directed charge sheets and memos for each staff member and for awarding the pre-determined punishment to more than 7000 employees and officers? Instead the management could have issued a circular by printing all names and the punishment awarded thereof, as was done in a Southern State against the agitating State Government employees.
These questions have no place for the management of our Bank which does not have any regard for the sanctity of the Trade Union rights. Fundamental Rights, Law of the Land and Bilateralism. The management is under misconception that such measures would create panic. Instead they will add to the agitated feelings of the staff members. If the repressive measures would have succeeded, then the country’s independence war would not have succeeded after hanging of hundreds and hundreds of protestors. For that matter, no protest would have been possible if the repression or victimization was the medicine to bust such protest.
As was expected, thousands of calls and messages were received from the staff members that unions have maintained enough restrain. The general feeling amongst the staff was that the UFCBU should proceed with continuous strike call for the resolution of their grievances which pertained to the attitude and approach of the management towards bilateralism, the employees and officers, their unions, their leaders and their basic trade union rights.
Comrades, UFCBU is on right path. The management is adopting unethical, legally untenable and vindictive agitational path through memos, charge sheets, transfers, suspensions etc. It is an agitation of more than 40000 employees and officers i.e. ‘PRAJA’. Protest by all employees and officers i.e. ‘public’ for the justified issues always succeeds. UFCBU will succeed too in getting the redressal of your grievances.
WHOLE HEARTEDLY PARTICIPATE IN ALL ACTION PROGRAMS WITH CONVICTION, COMMITMENT AND WITH CONFIDENCE
THIS IS YOUR AGITATION, BY YOUR UNIONS, FOR YOUR GRIEVANCES.
MARCH ON MARCH ON AND MAKE THE CONTINUOUS STRIKES FROM 22ND FEBRUARY 2007, A GRAND SUCCESS.