WOMEN CONVENTION

Dear Comrades,


We are happy to inform you that it was decided to hold our IV Women convention in Hyderabad on 9th November, 2008 and the venue will be Parwana Hall, Opp SBH, Gunfoundry, Hyderabad. To discuss and finalise the modalities and the detailed programme, our active women Comrades met in our Federation Office and after prolonged discussions a Reception Committee was formed with Com Mrunalini, from State Bank of Hyderabad, as Secretary and Com Preethi Ramakrishna, Indian Bank as its Assistant Secretary. A full length committee was also formed with various activists from different banks as the members. It was decided to mobilize more number of women comrades from the units to make the convention not only a grand success but to ensure the deliberations more meaningful.

Comrades we are happy to inform you that Smt.Daggubati Purandhareswari, Minister for Human Resources, Government of India and Com Lalitha Joshi our All India Women Convenor have so far confirmed their participation and we are eagerly awaiting confirmation from Smt.Renu chellu, Managing Director, State Bank of Hyderabad and we will be informing the detailed programme at the earliest.

It was also decided to start the proceedings with the inaugural session by 9.30 A.M. and conclude the same by 5.00 P M Lunch will be provided to all the participants and sufficient material also will be provided for smooth and significant deliberations.

All the Units are requested to mobilize full strength from all the parts of the state so that the meeting will be yet another mile stone in the onward march of our movement in the State of Andhra Pradesh.


With Greetings,
Comradely Yours,





(B.S.RAMBABU)
GENERAL SECRETARY

To

26TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AIBEA

AT NEW DELHI - 15TH TO 18TH NOVEMBER, 2008

THEME:


PROCESSION FROM RAJ GHAT AT: 3-00 PM

PUBLIC SESSION AT PRABHAT KAR AUDITORIUM,
PARVANA NAGAR, RAMLILA GROUNDS, NEW DELHI

TIME: 5-00 PM DATE : 15TH NOVEMBER, 2008 ( SATURDAY )

INAUGURATION : COM. GURUDAS DASGUPTA, M.P. ,
GENERAL SECRETARY, ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS

CHIEF GUEST : SMT. SHIELA DIXIT,
HON. CHIEF MINISTER, GOVT. OF NEW DELHI

GUEST OF HONOUR : SRI. OSCAR FERNANDES,
HON. MINISTER FOR LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT, GOVT. OF INDIA





DELHI AWAITS TO RECEIVE YOU



ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYES ASSOCIATION

THE PREMIER BANKING UNION IN INDIA – ESTD. 20TH APRIL, 1946























































To

26TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AIBEA


AT NEW DELHI - 15TH TO 18TH NOVEMBER, 2008


SPECIAL SEMINAR

AT 5-00 PM ON SUNDAY, 16TH NOVEMBER, 2008

PRABHAT AUDITORIUM, PARVANA HALL, RAM LILA GROUNDS, NEW DELHI


SUBJECT :



SPEAKERS:

PROF. BABU MATHEWS, the noted Social Activist
SMT. SUCHETA DALAL, the noted Journalist
PROF. ARUN KUMAR, Jawarhalal Nehru University, Delhi







ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYES ASSOCIATION

THE PREMIER BANKING UNION IN INDIA – ESTD. 20TH APRIL, 1946


















































































































To

26TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AIBEA

AT NEW DELHI - 15TH TO 18TH NOVEMBER, 2008

THEME:


PARTICIPATION OF LEADERS
OF BANK UNIONS FROM ABROAD

PAKISTAN, BANGLADESH,
NEPAL, SRILANKA,
MALAYSIA, PHILIPPINES,
TAIWAN, VIETNAM,
SOUTH KOREA, DPR KOREA,
HONKONG, GREECE,
IRELAND, UZBEKISTAN,
SOUTH AFRICA, SYRIA,
JAPAN MAURITIUS


LAUNCHING OF
ASIAN REGION BANKING AND
FINANCIAL SECTOR UNION



ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYES ASSOCIATION

THE PREMIER BANKING UNION IN INDIA – ESTD. 20TH APRIL, 1946

26th Conference beacons us for greater struggles

OUR SLOGAN

BANKING FOR EMPOWERMENT OF MASSES
AND NOT FOR EMBEZZLEMENT OF THEIR SAVINGS

OUR DEMANDS

· STOP BANKING REFORMS FORTHWITH
· NATIONALISE ALL PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS IN PEOPLE’S INTEREST
· STRENGTHEN & EXPAND PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS
· EXPEDITE NPA RECOVERY


OBSERVE ALL INDIA DAY ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 2008


All through the period of 4 years after our last conference held in 2004, we have been waging a relentless struggle against the efforts of the Government at privatisation of the Banks, reducing Government’s Equity Capital in Public Sector Banks, merger of public sector banks, amendment to Banking Regulation Act to allow unrestricted voting rights to FDI in banking sector, etc.

Today when we are approaching our 26th Conference, we find that whatever we have been fighting for, have been fully vindicated. Had our banks been privatised and liberalized, the huge savings of the people would have been in great peril and jeopardy. Many of them would have fallen a victim of the financial tsunami as in USA and Europe. Thanks to our continuous protests and struggles and the stubborn resistance by the Left, these banking reforms could be kept in bay and pushed back.

The recent events that have unfolded in USA resulting in the massive global crisis in the financial and banking sector have exposed the fallacy of these reforms policies of privatisation and the efficacy of the unregulated free market. The so far giants of the free market are today crumbling like pack of cards and have to be taken over and bailed out by the Governments in USA, Britain, Germany, etc. at the cost of the tax-payers – robbing Peter to pay Paul. That is what will happen in India also if Public Sector Banks and their huge deposits are handed over to private hands. In the last 40 years, already 40 Indian private sector Banks have collapsed. That is why we have been opposing these banking sector reforms. That is why we say – People's money for people's welfare and not for private corporate loot.



It is high time that we demand the stopping of the banking reform policies. We also need to demand nationalisation of all private banks and take over of foreign banks. What our country needs is further strengthening & expansion of public sector banks to empower the masses and make our banks vibrant nation building institutions. Already we observe that private corporate delinquency is the reason for the huge NPAs in banks. Instead of taking stern action to recover it from them, these reforms are aimed at handing over the banks to them. Let us say a big ‘NO’ to these attempts.

Let us continue our campaign and struggle. From our 26th Conference we shall unleash more intensified programmes on our demands in the interest of our people and their huge precious savings, in the interest of our nation and our economy. We have already raised the slogan – People’s Money for People’s Welfare. Now we have further raised the slogan – Banking for empowerment of masses and not for embezzlement of their savings.

Let us meet in our Conference to further concretise our struggles and programmes.

In the meantime, all our units are requested to observe the following programmes:

1. All India Day on 11.11.2008

2. Mass Demonstrations in all Centres on 11.11.2008

3. Postering before all Branches.

With greetings,

Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY

PRESS STATEMENT

We extend our total support and solidarity to the agitational programme and mass casual leave struggle by the entire employees and officers of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in protest against the unilateral and unwarranted provocation of the RBI management in withdrawing the earlier decision of the Central Board of RBI providing for periodical updation and upgradation of Pension payable to the retirees as a consequence to wage revision extended to the working employees and officers.

The Pension scheme in RBI and commercial banks has been formulated on the lines of Central Government pension scheme which provides for such periodical updation of pension including in the recent VI Central Pay Commission. Further the RBI Pension Fund is a standalone fund without any contribution from the exchequer of the Government. Hence, the RBI’s action in withdrawing this benefit affecting the retired staff is unfair and unjustified. In this background, the protest action by the RBI staff has become unavoidable and inevitable.

All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) extends its solidarity to the protest programme by the RBI staff and is fully supportive of their genuine demand. AIBEA urges upon the Government and the RBI management to see reason and withdraw their instructions to reduce the Pension payable to the retired staff. Should the Government and RBI management persists with their unfair action and the RBI staff are required to continue their protest programme in future, AIBEA will also give supportive agitational programme in solidarity with the RBI staff.

(C.H. VENKATACHALAM)
GENERAL SECRETARY

1. List of Delegates & Observers

As already requested, all our State Federations are advised to finalise their List of Delegates & Observers as early as possible and submit the same to our Central Office with copy to the Reception Committee at Delhi. The total number of Delegates & Observers should be informed to us and Reception Committee immediately.

2. Accommodation/Stay arrangements

Many States are yet to inform the Reception committee about their requirements for accommodation of delegates & observers. State Federations should immediately inform Reception Committee about number of participants who would stay in the halls arranged by them and number of people who would say in hotel rooms. Last minute arrangements for hotel rooms would be very very difficult due to seasonal rush in Delhi.

3. Photo Identity Cards

All participants should be advised by our State Federations to keep a photo Identity Card with them as the same will be required when they check in at the hotels, etc.

4. Arrival Details

Details of arrival in Delhi should be informed to Reception Committee in advance to enable them to arrange transportation from Railway Station to the places of accommodation.

5. Annual Fees

State Federations are once again requested to remit the Annual Fees upto 2007 and not wait till the Conference.

6. Weather in Delhi

Weather in Delhi during middle of November will be normally pleasant during day time but mildly cold in the nights. Hence a shawl or a sweater would be advisable as a precaution.


7. Conference Schedule

We give below the conference schedule :

15.11.2008 3.00 P.M. Procession
5.00 P.M. Inaugural Public Session

16.11.2008 10.00 A.M. Delegate Session
5.00 P.M. Seminar
7.30 P.M. Cultural Programme

17.11.2008 10.00 A.M. Delegate Session
5.30 P.M. Women’s Convention
7.30 P.M. Cultural Programme

18.11.2008 10.00 A.M. Delegate Session
6.00 P.M. Conclusion



7. Registration and Distribution of Delegate Cards / Documents

14.11.2008 3.00 PM to 8.00 PM At Conference Hall Venue

15.11.2008 10.00 AM to 1.00 PM (Ramlila Grounds)


8. Conference Programme


15.11.2008 (Saturday)




3.00 P.M. : Massive Procession from Raj Ghat to Ram Lila Grounds.

5.00 P.M. : Inaugural Public Session


Inauguration : Com. Gurudas Dasgupta, General Secretary, AITUC

Chief Guest : Mrs. Shiela Dixit, Chief Minister, Govt. of Delhi.

Guest of Honour : Sri Oscar Fernandes, Minister for Labour & Employment,
Government of India.

Greetings by : Com. H. Mahadevan, Dy. General Secretary, WFTU

Com. Sukomal Sen, General Secretary, TUI – P & A.E

Com. R.J. Sridharan, General Secretary, AIBOA

Com. A.V. Nachane, General Secretary, AILICEF

Com. N.D. Sundaresan, General Secretary, GIEAIA

Introduction of : Leaders of Foreign Delegations


16.11.2008 (Sunday)



10.00 A.M. : - Presentation of General Secretary’s Report

- Presentation of Accounts and adoption

Greetings by Foreign Delegates & Leaders of UFBU.

Discussion by Delegates on Report

5.00 P.M. : Seminar

Subject : GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS – CAUSES,
CULPRITS, IMPACT, REMEDIES & TASKS.

Speakers : Prof. Babu Mathew, Social Activist

Mrs. Sucheta Dalal, Noted Journalist

Prof. Arun Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University.



17.11.2008 ( Monday )


10.00 A.M. : Discussions by Delegates in Commissions

5.30 P.M. : Women’s Convention

Speaker : Com. Amarjit Kaur, Secretary, AITUC



18.11.2008 ( Tuesday )


10.00 A.M. : Discussions on Report

3.00 P.M. : Reply & adoption of Report
Amendments to Rules
Resolutions
Election


6.00 P.M. : Conclusion


With greetings,

Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY

ANDHRA PRADESH BANK EMPLOYEES' FEDERATION
5-1-680, 2ND Floor, Iyyangar Plaza, Adj to Central Bank of India,
Bank Street, Koti, Hyderabad – 500 095
Phone: 2469354, & Fax: 24619354

e mail ~ apbef_ap@yahoo.com



CIRCULAR NO:XXV/2008/069 Date: 13.10.2008

To All The Office Bearers, CC Members,
Units & Co-ordination Committees.


Dear Comrades,

We reproduce hereunder the CIRCULAR NO. 25/77/2008/33 Dated October, 9th , 2008 issued by AIBEA for the information of all our members.

With Greetings,
Comradely Yours,



(B.S.RAMBABU)
GENERAL SECRETARY
=====================================================================================================================================================
99TH BIRTHDAY OF COM. PRABHAT KAR









13TH OCTOBER, 1920 - 2008
Today is the 99th Birthday of late Com. Prabhat Kar, the doyen leader of our movement. In our ensuing Conference we shall chalk out befitting Centenary celebrations programmes to be observed from 13-10-2009 to 13-10-2010.
Let us record our respectful salutations to Com. Prabhat Kar and pledge to work for strengthening AIBEA for which Com. Prabhat Kar spent his life in entirety.
We furnish herein a brief life sketch of our beloved leader Com. Prabhat Kar.
With greetings,
Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY

COM. PRABHAT KAR, THE TITAN
It is but a few who acquire the status of the mythical Prometheus, who is fabled to have stolen fire from the gods and brought it down to earth for the benefit of mankind. Com. Prabhat can only be described as the Prometheus of the bank employees' movement, the Commander Par Excellence who 'found it mud and left it marble'. A major portion of his seventy four years on this planet was lived in searing dedication to the cause of bank employees. He was so much the architect, the high priest, the life-breath of the bank employees' movement going under the name of AIBEA, such an integral, intricate part of it, that it is difficult to speak of the one without referring to the other. He finally died with his boots on, his last breath being rasped out in the cause of bank employees.
Com. Prabhat was born on 13th October, 1910 in Calcutta in a middle class family not very different from the ones from which today's bank employees hail. In 1928 as a youth of 18 he had his first taste of the freedom struggle when he joined as a volunteer in the Calcutta Congress Session. After graduating from the Presidency College in Calcutta in 1931 he joined the services of Lloyds Bank Ltd., as a clerk in 1933. It is here that he first witnessed and experienced the rampant and inhuman conditions to which this section of the working class was subjected. The situation obtaining then is beyond our imagination today. The right of hire and fire prevailed and employees were often hired only to be fired. Service conditions were non-existent and the word 'union' was an unutterable blasphemy. The hold of the pay master on his workers was complete and total. Destinies were made and broken at the mere whim of the 'Employer' which was only a euphemism to describe the lord and master.
It is in such an hostile environment that Com. Prabhat had his baptism in the Trade Union Movement. From 1933, the year in which he joined the bank, till 1946 he was fully immersed in organising bank employees against these sub- human conditions.
Right from the beginning Com. Prabhat was clear as to the cause underlying this primitive exploitation. He was aware that what he witnessed in the banks was only the expression of a larger callous system which continuously endeavoured to keep the worker oppressed and harassed. Hence from the very day he joined the bank he was conscious that this situation could be battled only by a workers' organisation of comparable size and strength. Envisaging the broadest platform of unity possible in the then prevailing situation and circumstances, Com. Prabhat made the organising of the entire lot of bank employees in the banking industry his prime target.
With the characteristic courage of his convictions and vision which in later years came to be reckoned as his hall mark, Com. Prabhat, along with a group of young, angry but dedicated comrades took the historic decision on 9th April, 1941 to form an all India organisation for bank employees. On 20th April, 1946 this vision stood translated into reality as the AIBEA took formal shape on the banks of the Hooghly.
At the time when the AIBEA was founded, in certain pockets in some of the banks, there were a few fledgling organisatlons. But all these were struggling against immense odds even for survival. There was nothing present on the Trade Union scene in the banking industry to encourage the formation of an all-embracing industry-Ievel organisation.
Yet from the day the AIBEA was founded Com. Prabhat started a ceaseless and unremitting struggle to unify all banks employees under a single banner. "One industry, one union" had become his immediate lodestar. In the meantime he was already shouldering the responsibility of being the General Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Bank Employees' Association.
On 17th August 1948, Com. Prabhat, as General Secretary of BPBEA, led the sympathy strike in support of the 19 days' strike by the employees of the Central Bank. Lloyds Bank declared a lock out for 26 days because the employees of Lloyds Bank had also participated in the strike under the leadership of Com. Prabhat. In the after- math of this strike, 51 employees including Com. Prabhat, were dismissed from Lloyds Bank. Subsequently Com. Kar and 11 others from Lloyds Bank were convicted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for having participated in the .'illegal" strike. The dismissal issue was later on brought before the Sen Tribunal which ordered reinstatement of 40 of the dismissed employees but excluded Com. Prabhat and 10 others from reinstatement. However the vindictive management of Lloyds Bank went on appeal , against these reinstatements. After 9 years of protracted and attritional legal battle, the Supreme Court reinstated these 40 comrades in June, 1958.
Two things are noteworthy here. The first is that it is possible that the management of Lloyds Bank, given its class bias, foresaw in Prabhat Kar the awakening titan of the bank employees movement and decided to ruthlessly crush him to obviate such a possibility. Their persistent vindictive attitude towards him betrays as much. The fact that the Sen Tribunal also deemed it fit to exclude him from reinstatement perhaps indicated the first recognition, albeit negative, by the powers that be of the emerging status of Prabhat.
The second noteworthy point is that amongst the 51 initially dismissed from Lloyds Bank was Shri Sen Gupta who subsequently became the Chairman of the United Bank of India. Had Com. Prabhat also chosen a similar path, perhaps …… Had this been the case, the bank employees movement would certainly have been the poorer.
It certainly must have been crucifying for an individual of 38 years age to stand dismissed from service and to be confronted with the prospect of further gruelling struggle in the years to come. The period 1953 to 1966 was a period of incessant, relentless and prolonged struggles for both Com. Prabhat and the AIBEA which he had come to represent as its General Secretary since his election to that post at the 5th Conference of the AIBEA held at Lucknow in 1953. It was during this period that the sweep of the organisation came to acquire an unprecedented magnitude. The AIBEA fought bitter battles inside the portals of tribunals and outside in the streets under the stewardship of Com. Prabhat.
During this period, in 1957, Com. Prabhat was elected to the Parliament from the Hooghly constituency. During his tenure in Parliament Com. Prabhat Kar took up the issue of bigger banks' taking over small banks that went into liquidation and saw to it that an amendment was made to the Banking Company's Act to that effect, while also endeavouring to ensure that the employees of the liquidated banks' were absorbed into the new banks. The first bank to be taken over was the Indo- Commercial by the Punjab National Bank.
In 1961 Com. Prabhat Kar participated as a member of the Bonus subcommittee at the Indian Labour Conference at Bangalore, where it was decided that the entire Banking Industry, both private and public sectors, excluding the RBI, would come under the purview of the Bonus Commission.
The phase of tribunalisation and third party intervention came to a decisive end with the signing of the historic first ever industry level Bipartite Settlement under the captaincy of Com. Prabhat in 1966. In bringing about this unique settlement Com. Prabhat, along with Com. Parvana, had toiled ceaselessly. The dream and slogan of " One union, one industry " had now assumed formal shape and begun the process of fleshing out with the signing of this settlement. Here again it was Com. Prabhat's strong conviction that the signing of such an industry level settlement which would include under the comprehensive sweep of its umbrella virtually the entire banking industry, would also resultantly strengthen and streamline the growing unity of bank employees under the banner of AIBEA. The dialectics of uniform wage structure and service conditions would produce dynamics that would strengthen the, environment for bank employees' unity.
The Signing of this First Bipartite Settlement metamorphosed the status of both the AIBEA and the bank employees. It constitutes a decisive watershed in the history of the movement since the period of definite consolidation of the movement and advancement commences from this point. The AIBEA has never looked back after this.
It was also during this period that yet another aspect of this multifaceted genius stood demonstrated- his mastery of the art of negotiation. This mastery was to acquire legendary proportions through the authoring of the succeeding Bipartite Settlements. The quality that was peculiarly his own at the negotiating table was that while Com. Prabhat was never aggressive, always persuasive, yet without yielding any quarter to the management, he carried them along with him. The most strident of antagonists came around to accept his view point slowly but surely.
While this acme of his genius stood displayed in one form at the negotiating table, yet another side to it was displayed in the reinstatement of 135 comrades of Syndicate Bank. In the year 1965, the management of Syndicate Bank dismissed 135 of its employees following an agitation, and mulishly persisted in its refusal to reinstate them despite persistent attempts. Com. Prabhat stepped onto the scene and a series of negotiations commenced with the management, spread over a period of two years at different centres. It was virtually a war of attrition across the table. As the talks continued without any apparent breakthrough many began to lose confidence. Some began to have misgivings. But Com. Prabhat persisted with paramount, unbounded patience. The management unable to with- stand the gentle onslaught of this dogged persistence, finally cried a halt and reinstated all the dismissed comrades. Com, Prabhat had once again achieved the impossible.
The period that followed was an era of bipartism. AIBEA grew from strength to strength under the stewardship of Com. Prabhat Kar. In 1967 he was elected to the Parliament for the second time. In 1969 when 14 major banks were nationalised Com. Prabhat Kar along with Com. Parvana met the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and suggested improvements in the structure of the Banks.
Having thus far devoted his attention to aspects of wages and service conditions, in the 17th Conference of the AIBEA held at Madras in 1973, Com. Prabhat made a bold departure by laying more emphasis on national problems and called for a change in the credit policies of the government. This concern for the nation, the role the banking industry played in the growth of the nation, and the potential of the bank employees to influence this role played by the industry in the nation's growth, increased over the years. In successive conferences Com. Prabhat's emphasis on this sphere of activity also increased as this conviction grew,
A personal and organisational set back for Com. Prabhat was the passing away of Com. Parvana in 1975. His responsibilities increased as a result of this sad loss. In the period that followed, the securing of the III Bipartite settlement formed one of the sternest of organisational challenges faced by Com. Prabhat in his long tenure as pilot of the movement. The government at the helm of affairs was the Janata Government which had triumphed at the hustings with a massive mandate from the electorate in the aftermath of the emergency. And the Government was headed by Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister. When the AIBEA proposed the long overdue wage revision for bank employees it was the Prime Minister himself who thundered that bank employees enjoyed best of both the worlds and therefore there was no question of any wage increase for them. Not only did the government rule out any wage revision but also simultaneously attempted to foist the obnoxious Boothalingam Committee D. A, formula on the bank employees. The resistance to imposition of this formula in other industries was tepid.
A battle royal ensued therefore between the AIBEA and the government in which Com. Prabhat directed the use of every known item of weaponry from work-to- rule and other forms of agitation to novel methods like short duration strikes at different centres. The government had to finally bow before the combined might of the bank employees and Com. Prabhat once again achieved the impossible by signing the III Bipartite Settlement.
The Fourth Bipartite Settlement, came to the Bank employees virtually on a silver platter as it was achieved with comparatively less struggle. The movement had come full circle under the stewardship of Com. Prabhat. It has progressed from the situation of protracted battles for small gains to that of limited struggles for major gains. The subsequent period witnessed Com. Prabhat busily engaged in the task of organising the officers under the banner of the AIBOA of which he was the Founder President.
In the midst of these activities Com. Prabhat travelled to Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh on 24-11-1984 to inaugurate the Conference of State Bank of Hyderabad Staff Association. While on his way back to Hyderabad from this Conference, he collapsed in the car in which he was travelling. It was 9-30 p.m. of 27th November 1984.
Thus he passed on to the ages, serving the cause for which he lived upto the last breath of his life. There are only a few who continue to live beyond the grave, for whom death signifies nothing more than the mere consignment of mortal remains to dust. That immortality is truly noble which is achieved in the cause of organising the masses. That immortality is uniquely Prabhat's.