AIBEA Circular Letter No. 30/12/2026/38
Date: 2 August 2026
Title: IR Meetings in Banks – DFS Advisory to Banks on Minority Unions
Summary:
The All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) has issued Circular Letter No. 30/12/2026/38 expressing serious concerns and strong objections regarding instructions issued by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, concerning Industrial Relations (IR) meetings with minority trade unions in Public Sector Banks. Joint representations have been submitted to the Secretary, DFS by AIBEA, AIBOC, and NCBE urging a complete re-examination of these guidelines.
Key Highlights:
– DFS Advisory: The DFS initially instructed Public Sector Banks (10th July 2026) to hold IR meetings with all unions, and subsequently issued a revised communication (30th July 2026) advising quarterly interaction meetings with "recognised minority unions".
– Violation of Statutory Norms: Under the Code of Discipline, Industrial Disputes Act, and Section 14 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, individual bank managements recognize one majority union for workmen and one for officers. No statutory provision exists for recognizing minority unions.
– Negligible Membership: Many minority unions possess negligible membership (e.g., 2 out of 15,000, 7 out of 8,000, 90 out of 127,000, or under 1% of total bank staff).
– Unfair Labour Practice: Section 84 of the IR Code, 2020 explicitly designates encouraging minority unions as an Unfair Labour Practice by employers.
– Undermining Bipartite Structure: Replacing negotiations with "interaction" for minority unions threatens the established United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) bipartite negotiation framework at the IBA level.
– Joint Appeal: AIBEA, AIBOC, and NCBE have submitted a joint letter requesting DFS to revisit and withdraw the instruction to prevent industrial disharmony.
Full Text of Circular & Joint Representation:
ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION
Central Office: "PRABHAT NIVAS" Regn. No.2037
Singapore Plaza, 164, Linghi Chetty Street, Chennai-600001
Phone: 2535 1522 Web: https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.aibea.in&source=gmail&ust=1785862703269000&sa=E
Email: chv.aibea & aibeahq M: 98400 89920
CIRCULAR LETTER No. 30/12/2026/38
2-8-2026
To All Office bearers, State Federations, All India Bankwise Federations/Organisations
Dear Comrades,
I R Meetings in Banks – DFS advisory to Banks
Units are aware that in the banking sector, I R norms, recognition of trade unions, etc. have evolved over a period of eight decades. Even though AIBEA was founded in 1946, the right to collective bargaining and negotiation was achieved only in 1966 when AIBEA achieved the 1st BP Settlement.
Similarly, even in various Banks, our Unions came into being from the 1940s and 1950s but our Unions were recognised by the bank managements only in the 1960s. Today, in all the Public Sector Banks (except SBI and IOB), our AIBEA unions are the recognised majority unions.
In the Bipartite negotiations with IBA, in 1970, only AIBEA was there. Subsequently, other Unions were invited. For officers, due to the efforts of Com Prabhat Kar, Joint Note is being signed with IBA from 1984.
At the industry-level, overcoming the earlier differences, in 1997, 7 apex Unions AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, and INBEF came together and formed the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to unitedly fight the various attacks and challenges in the banking industry and against the banking fraternity. Subsequently NOBW and NOBO also joined UFBU.
In the last 30 years, UFBU has been functioning as the united and common platform for bank employees and officers. While all the 9 unions under UFBU participate in the bipartite negotiations, the position is different in various Banks. In most of the Banks, management negotiates only with the recognised majority union.
Recently the DFS, Ministry of Finance issued instructions to Banks to hold IR meetings with all the unions in the Banks. From AIBEA, AIBOC and NCBE we taken up the matter with the DFS and on 30-7-2026, a revised communication has been issued by the DFS to the Banks saying that the recognised minority unions can be called together once in 3 months for interaction (not for negotiations or discussions).
We all know the membership of the minority unions in the various banks. Somewhere it is negligible, somewhere it is marginal and somewhere it is substantial. Atpresent there are no norms to recognise a minority union. But DFS letter says that ‘recognised minority unions’ should be called for "interaction".
Obviously, the DFS instruction is to encourage a particular minority union, even though encouraging minority union is an act of unfair labour practice under law. Further, if negotiation/discussion is replaced by interaction, it may disturb the present structure of negotiations at the IBA level by all the unions including the minority unions.
Hence AIBEA, AIBOC and NCBE have again addressed a joint letter to the Secretary, DFS and we reproduce the same hereunder for the information of our units.
Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY
Text of Joint Letter to Secretary, DFS:
Reg: Industrial Relations meetings with the Minority Unions
This has reference to the communication No. eF.No.6/8/2014-IR dated 10th July, 2026 issued by your office to all the Public Sector Banks and our communication to your office dated 14th July, 2026.
We have now come across the subsequent communication from your office dated 30th July, 2026 in this regard in which the Government has advised the Banks to hold IR meetings with all the Recognised Minority Unions on a quarterly basis.
In this context, we would like to bring to your attention the following:
1. Under the Code of Discipline, under Industrial Disputes Act and Industrial Relations norms decided by the Boards of Banks, one Majority Union for the workmen employees and one majority union for the officers are recognised by all the individual Bank managements. Matter is now also governed by Sec. 14 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020.
2. There is no provision to recognise any minority union and hence no minority union is a recognised union in any Bank at present.
3. The membership of some of the minority unions in question is negligible viz. 380 out of 10,000, 90/127,000, 165/44,000, 90/26,000, 65/12,000, 115/21,000, 300/50,000, 25/13500, 7/8000, 43/3300, 83/22,000, 50/3300, 2/15,000, etc.
4. Some of the minority unions represent less than 1% of the staff in the Bank.
5. There is no definition from the Government as to which minority union is a recognised minority union and Government has not prescribed any provision/norms for the same.
6. In terms of Sec. 84 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 as approved by the Parliament, encouraging a minority union would amount to Unfair Labour Practice by the employer. Inviting all the unions even with negligible membership would amount to encouraging and boosting such Unions.
7. The IR Code also provides for recognizing the Negotiating Union with more than 50% membership and not less than 20% for inclusion in the Negotiating Council where no Union has 51% membership.
8. There is no provision in the IR Code for negotiations/ consultations/ discussions/ interaction with other Unions.
9. Whether Banks are exempted from the ambit of the Industrial Relations Code and whether Banks can violate the IR Code enacted by the Government.
10. According to Government guidelines, public sector banks are autonomous institutions and driven by the policies decided by the Boards of Directors within the applicable statutory framework. The present DFS instructions will run counter to the IR norms decided by the Boards in each Bank.
11. Importantly, at present all the trade unions, irrespective of membership size, are being invited by the Indian Banks’ Association for negotiations. By the present instructions of the IBA to treat the minority unions separately and only for interaction would have implications at the IBA level negotiations and the minority unions may have to be kept out of the now prevailing negotiation process and entitled only for interaction with IBA.
In view of this, we request you to re-visit the instruction under reference and issue suitable revised instructions.
Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY