RBI staff unions' umbrella body writes to governor seeking wage settlement, may go for protests

The United Forum of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Officers and Employees has written to Governor Shaktikanta Das seeking urgent resolution of the wage settlement issue. The forum is an umbrella body of RBI staff unions.

“All RBI staff across the country eagerly await finalization of the revision process, which will brighten their festive days. They are looking forward to you, Sir. Further delay begets restlessness and frustration, you will please empathise,” said the letter written by United Forum of Reserve Bank of India Officers and Employees to Governor Shaktikanta Das. Moneycontrol has a copy of this letter.

If the RBI management doesn’t resolve the wage settlement issue by Diwali, all RBI employees may go for agitations, said a senior RBI official who didn’t want to be named. “You are aware that revision of wages etc for all cadres of RBI staff is due from November 2017 and is still pending. The pandemic caused the abnormal delay. However, with your kind concurrence, the negotiations started in brisk pace and were nearing finality but are now stalled abruptly for some unexplained reason,” said the letter.

The move of the united forum follows a letter by All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) to Governor Shaktikanta Das seeking intervention in the wage settlement issue of central bank employees. Moneycontrol first reported about the disquiet among RBI employees about the wage revision issue on October 11.

RBI staff wages are decided through a bipartite settlement once in five years through negotiations between management and employee unions. The current round of wage revision is pending since November 2017.

The RBI has different unions for lower-level employees (mainly class 3 and 4 employees) and officers. The officers' union may soon write a letter to the governor seeking urgent resolution of the wage issue following similar letters from other unions.

"All RBI employees are quite upset with the delay in wage settlement issue," said the person quoted above. "We are planning to go for agitations if there is no resolution by Diwali," said the person quoted above.

The wage settlement applies to all central bank staff although officers typically get slightly higher revision compared with lower-level employees. The Indian central bank has around 12,500-13,000 employees.