Dear Editor,
The bizarre Record Note mutually agreed upon and signed by the Bank
Workmen Unions/Bank Officers Associations with IBA has come as
a jolt to the Pensioners Community at large.
It appears that the Officers and workmen working in various Banks
as on date of the above Agreed Note, have agreed to jettison their future
retired life in exchange for the current benefits doled out by the IBA.
This agreement can at best be implemented from the Record date in
respect of those who are in bank service as on that date and can
certainly not be forced upon/made applicable with retrospective effect
on the existing retirees in Banks.
It is strange that the UFBU and IBA are trying to put the clock back to
declare that pension is not a contractual obligation but a welfare
measure at the will and pleasure of the employer, shutting their eyes to
the age-old concept and judicial pronouncements all over the world,
declaring pension as a deferred wage for service rendered in the past,
as a fundamental right on par with right to property and as a social
security measure.
I welcome the emphatic views on the subject expressed by Mr C. H.
Mahadevan.
Regards
V.Gopalan