Bank
unions eye youth to stay relevant
Three-day meet being ‘organized...to raise
awareness among young employees about the need to stay organized and united’
Dinesh Unnikrishnan Live Mint 16 June 2014
When
the largest trade union in the country’s banking sector, the All India Bank Employees Association
(AIBEA), organizes a conference this October in Hyderabad exclusively for
young employees who have worked with state-run banks for less than five years, it will be a first in the 68-year history
of the body. The three-day meet is being “organized specifically to raise awareness among young employees about the need to
stay organized and united,” said AIBEA general secretary C. H.
Venkatachalam.
“They should know why unions are important
to ensure a fair play in organizations.” He admitted that not many young
people are interested in participating in union activities. “There is a definite gap between the unions
and the employees who have joined in the last four to five years.” At
present, there are about 11 employee unions in India’s banking industry with
close to 900,000 members. A majority of these employees are from the 27 public
sector banks in the country. AIBEA has almost 50% of this number as members.
However, in the last five years, AIBEA alone has lost about 100,000 members,
mostly due to large-scale retirement in public banks, promotions of staff as
officers, and reluctance of young staff to join, according to Venkatachalam......