NOINO suggests improvements in Wage Revision

Today, i.e. on 20^th October 2015, a NOINO delegation consisting of Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor, NOINO; Smt Trupti Bramhe, All India EC member; Smt Neeta Prabhavalkar, All India EC member; Smt Saroj Kurdukar, WZ EC member; Shri Surendra Chitnavis, Asstt Treasurer, NOINO Mumbai unit met the ED(P) Shri Niraj Aggarwal & submitted a letter containing 41 issues on which we demanded improvements/gave suggestions.

Due to paucity of time, all issues could not be discussed during the Individual discussions on 16th October. Hence, we submitted the letter today.

We said that as far as the wage-proposal is concerned, it was acceptable to us provided our suggestions/demands on improvements in the allowances & other issues were considered favourably. Full text of the letter will be put shortly (on receipt from headquarters). Salient points are given now.

We specially stressed on the following points:-

1. Improvement in HRA & CCA.

2. Improvement in Transport Allowance.

3. Increase in Special Area Allowance.

4. Increase in North-East Education Allowance.

5. Increase in Conveyance Allowance for Handicapped employees.

6. Anomaly after computer increment.

7. Protection of pay on posting on promotion from CCA centres to non-CCA centres.

8. Increase in time-scales for stagnated employees.

9. No curtailment of leave after introduction of 5-day week & only proportionate increase in working hours.

10. Delinking of Stagnation Increment to performance & treating it as deferred NGI.

11. Allowance for professional/technical qualifications to officers.

The ED assured that the management would explore ways & means for improvement in allowances & said that they would strive to fulfill the expectations after talking to the concerned authorities. The Personnel officials are likely to visit Delhi, very shortly to press for the improvements.

It was also informed that the management would strive to notify the wage-revision as early as possible.

LIC Wage Revision - Individual discussion with NOINO

After the joint session in the morning, NOINO had separate discussions with the management on wage-revision & other allied issues. The Management was represented by Shri Niraj Aggarwal, ED(P); Shri Prakash Chand, Chief(P); Shri Judhajit Sen, Secretary(ER) & other officials of the Personnel department.

In addition to the three representatives in the Joint session, NOINO was represented by Shri Pulak Dey, All India Working President; Shri Vishwas Shastri, All India Organising Secretary; Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor; Shri Sanjay Ramdasi, All India Treasurer, Shri Ketan Purandare, All India EC member; Smt Neeta Prabhavalkar, All India EC member; Smt Saroj Kurdukar, WZ EC member; Shri Brahmesh Hardikar, WZ EC member.

The following points were discussed/raised:-

1. We submitted that apparently the offer was good considering the circumstances & would give our considered opinion after studying the proposal in detail. 

2. Running scales/Increase in time scale/Grade Pay:- We submitted that due to stagnation & limited opportunities in promotion, running scales were the need of the hour. The management said that it was not feasible. We also insisted that at least there should be increase in Time scale. On this, the management responded positively & said that they would consider doing it in the cadre where there were maximum stagnations. It was not positive on Grade Pay.

3. No ceiling on HRA/CCA limit:- Management said that it was not feasible since from the total outlay, maximum amount has been adjusted towards increase in Basic Pay.

4. Allowance for professional/Technical qualifications:- Management was positive on the same & said that this issue was under active consideration.

5. Increase in Transport allowance:- We demanded Petrol Re-imbursement. Management was not positive. Thereafter, we demanded increase in Transport Allowance to at least 2000. Management said they would examine the issue. 

6. Cash Medical benefit:- We demanded that the benefit should be equal to all to the tune of Rs 25000. Management said they would examine the issue.

7. Protection of Salary on promotion on posting from CCA centre to non CCA centres:- Management seemed to be positive on this issue & noted the point.

8. In-charge allowance:- We once again demanded In-charge allowance. Management seemed positive on this issue & noted this point.

9. One more option for pension:- We expressed our bitter disappointment over the failure to achieve success on this issue. Management assured that this issue was not closed from their side & they would continue to pursue it.

10. PLLI:- We inquired about the status. Management replied that it was pending for sanction with the government & also said that it would be granted on the current pay-scales instead of old pre-revised scales. This would result in substantial increase in the PLLI. We stressfully reiterated our earlier demands of uniform PLLI for all & simplification of parameters. After our insistence, Management agreed to examine the issue of uniform PLLI.

11. Anamoly after computer increment:- This demand has been raised by NOINO since long. The management replied that the demand was genuine; however, the concerned authorities in the Finance department were not positive on this.

12. 5 days week:- We enquired about the implementation part. The management replied that increase in working hours & curtailment in leave may possibly be in the mind of the government if we demand parity with GIC. We strongly resisted any curtailment of leave & only proportionate increase in working office hours. Management said that they would discuss the modalities with the Government & then discuss with the unions.

13. Increase in PL to 300 days:- Management said that it was considering to increase it to 270 days.

14. Encashment of PL:- We demanded increase in encashment of PL to 30 days in a block of two years. Management said that it would examine the issue.

15. Acceptance of cash not beyond cash hours;- We gave the example of a bank which recently issued a circular prohibiting the acceptance of cash beyond working hours. We stated that the cash hours & working hours were the same in Banks, hence this principle should be applied in LIC too to avoid Late sitting to some extent. Management said that it will examine the issue.

16. Restriction of timings of enquiry:- Management has noted this point.

17. Group Insurance Scheme for all outstanding loans & advances:- Management was positive on this issue & noted this point.

18. Child care leave/Sabbatical leave :- Management said that this issue was under active consideration.

19. Increase in Housing Loan:- Management was positive on this issue & said that Housing Loan would increase manifold.

20. Technical allowance to be considered for fixation on promotion from development officer to ABM(S) :- Management has noted this point.

21. LTC:- We demanded simplification of rules; encashment & airfare for Class I officers; Benefit to both Husband & Wife working in LIC. Management said that they were examining all these issues with a positive frame of mind.

22. Timely Settlement of wage-revision:- We submitted that every time wage-revision is settled with a considerable delay. We demanded that the talks on wage-revision should commence before it is due & should be settled in time.

NOINO will continue to pursue the pending issues.

LIC Wage Revision - Joint Session Reporting

As scheduled, the discussions on Wage-revision were held today, i.e. on 16th October 2015 at Mumbai. The management was represented by the Chairman Shri S K Roy, all the three Managing Directors & the officials of Personnel department.

NOINO was represented by Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, All India GS, NOINO; Shri Y N Murthy, All India Joint Secretary, NOINO; & Shri R Dhayalan, Zonal Secretary, NOINO SZ unit.

The Chief(Personnel) Shri Prakash Chand took stock of the situation. He lauded the role of the Chairman & our MD Smt Usha Sangwan in the wage-revision issue.

Thereafter, Smt Usha Sangwan, Managing Director spoke. She stressed on the need of a better professional approach; setting higher benchmarks in customer service etc.

Thereafter Shri V K Sharma, Managing Director, spoke. He stressed on the importance of agency retention. He also spoke on the issues of Market Share of LIC & the growth of New Business.

Shri S B Mainak, Managing Director expressed concern over the reduction in accounting surplus.

Thereafter, the Chairman spoke. The Chairman in his speech covered the following points:-

** We all have put our best efforts during these hard times & expressed confidence that this teamwork will help facing the future challenges

** Only thing permanent is ‘Change’

** Degrowth of 41% in policies & 10% in FPI as on 31.3.2015

** Achievement to budget was only 55% on policies & 82% on FPI.

** Total income crossed 4 lakh crore; Asset base crossed 20 lakh crores

** Claim settlement 99.77% as on 31.3.2015.

** Adoption & use of technology is the need of the hour

** Transfer & Mobility policy & Biometric Authentication (for eFEAP) to be applicable from 1st April 2016.

Thereafter the ED(P) gave the wage-proposal. Following are the salient features of the proposal(for Class I Officers):-

• Rise of 13.5% in Basic Pay after 100% Merger of DA in old Basic as on 1.8.2012.

• Rate of DA 0.10%(Old---0.15%)

• HRA---A Class cities---10% of Basic Pay. Maximum 5200; B Class----8%. Maximum 4320; C Class---7%. Maximum 4200.

• CCA—A Class cities---3% of Basic Pay. Maximum 1275; B Class----2.5%. Maximum 1210; C Class---2%. Maximum 930.

• Transport allowance—1300(Old 800).

• Cash Medical Benefit—upto Basic 60165---- 13000; above 60165-----19440.

• PG 1 Allowance—1120(Old 680)

• Audit allowance---1405(Old 850).

The Joint Session ended there.

The reporting of the Individual session with NOINO is being done separately.

LIC wage-revision: update-3

Highlights of Cl I Officers' Wage Revision :

1. DA from 0.15% to 0.10%

2. HRA: Max.
A Class city(10 % ) - from 3200/- to 5200/-
B class city(8%)- from 2700/- to 4370/-
C Class city(7%)- from 2600/- to 4200/-

3. CCA: Max.
A Class city(3%)- from 800/- to 1275/-
B class city(2.5%)- from 760/- to 1210/-
C Class city(2%)- from 590/- to 930/-

4. Transport Allow:
From 800/- to 1300/-

5. Cash Medical Benefit:
From 8000/- to13,000/-
From 12000/- to 19440/-

6. PG 1 Allow: 680/- to 1120/-

7. Audit Allow: 850/- to 1405/-

LIC wage-revision: update-2

LIC wage-revision: update-1

LIC management offered 13.5% rise on Basic Pay after DA merger as on 01.08.2012. Net rise will come to much higher in percentage.

Management also offered 5 days' week. Further details awaited.

LIC Wage Revision - Management calls Unions, Agitation Suspended

LIC management has called NOINO and all joint front constituents for final discussion on wage revision. The talks are at Mumbai on 16th & 17th October 2015.

In view of above invitation for talks, it has been decided by all constituent unions in Joint Forum to suspend the current agitational programmes (including strike action on 14th October 2015).

Unions' meeting concludes

The Joint Forum of unions in LIC met today the 29th of September 2015 at Pune and decided the following programme of action to realise satisfactory wage revision and one more option for pension:

1) Lunch hour demonstrations 6th and 13th October, 2015.
2) ONE DAY STRIKE ON 14th October, 2015.
3) Lunch hour demonstrations on 16th & 18th November, 2015.
4) TWO DAYS strike on 19th and 20th November 2015.

Please note that the earlier call of no work after office hours continues.

Further details are awaited.

Directives to NOINO office-bearers & members

1. Kindly note that from tomorrow, we are embarking upon the badge wearing programme. NOINO divisional units will co-ordinate with other unions locally in this matter. 

2. The agitation of 'no work outside office hours' will also continue as it is.

3. Though there is no boycott on Insurance Week celebrations, the participation should be restricted strictly within office hours.

4. Kindly also note once again that NOINO is not participating in the general strike on 2nd September 2015.

NOINO not participating in strike on 2nd September

As per decisions taken by NOINO Central Committee, NOINO will not participate in the general strike on 2nd September 2015 - the call given by different trade unions of the country.

JOINT FRONT AGITATIONAL PROGRAMMES

As per earlier decided schedule, the Joint Forum of Unions met at Mumbai on 19th August, 2015 and decided the following programme of action:

1. NO WORK AFTER OFFICE HOURS to continue.

2. 1st September to 7th September - Badge Wearing.

3. 9th September to 19th September - Signature campaign among officers & employees (by holding general body meeting in all offices) on memorandum addressed to the Finance Minister. 

4. 23rd September - Sending the signatures obtained from the employees and the officers to the Finance Minister by the Divisional Units.

5. The Joint Forum of Unions will be meeting again on 29th September at Pune to chalk out further programme of action including Strike action.

NOINO delegation meets Amit Shah & Arun Jaitley

Continuing its efforts, on 5th August 2015, a NOINO delegation led by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister & President NOINO met  Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley to break deadlock on wage revision and one more option for pension.

The delegation consisted of Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor;  Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, General Secretary; Shri  S. K. Saini, EC member & Shri Yashpal Singh, Zonal Secretary, NZ unit.

Meeting was essentially an attempt to break the stalemate on the wage revision & the pension option issues. We have expressed emphatically that LIC employees deserve a wage revision that is commensurate with its paying capacity. We firmly expressed our opposition to our linking with the banking industry. Jaitleyji patiently heard us & assured to look into the matter. The delegation also submitted memorandums on the issues of 5 days' week & anomaly after computer increment.

The delegation also met Amitji Shah, President BJP once again (after our meeting on 9th July) as in the previous meeting he had invited us to Delhi for further talks. We once again urged Amitji to ensure the delinking of LIC from the Banking Industry as also to reign in the bureaucrats who were scuttling the just demands of LIC employees.

NOINO will continue to make efforts to resolve the pending issues of the LIC employees. We also appeal to all the employees to follow all the agitation programmes given by the joint front.

Letter to the Chairman on 1st August

As per decision taken in the joint-front meeting on 28th July 2015, the unions wrote the letter (jointly) to the Chairman on 1st August 2015. The letter is reproduced below which is self explanatory:

JOINT FRONT MEETING CONCLUDES

Joint Forum of Unions in LIC met at Mumbai today the 28thJuly, 2015 and decided to observe the following programme of action to realise Wage Revision and one more option to join 1995 Pension Scheme.

1. 01.08.2015 : Letter to the Chairman signed by unions to commence wage negotiations and settle the same to the satisfaction of employees.

2. 05.08.2015 : Lunch hour demonstrations before all offices.

3. 12.08.2015 : Lunch hour gate demonstrations and NO WORKING AFTER OFFICE HOURS from this date.

4. 19.08.2015 : Lunch hour demonstrations.

On 19th August the Joint Forum of Unions will meet at Mumbai again to decide further programme of agitation with a perspective of 1 day strike and intensification of agitational programme thereafter.

Joint Front meeting tomorrow, 28th July 2015

The unions of Joint Front in LIC are meeting tomorrow i.e. 28^th July 2015 at Mumbai to discuss future course of action to achieve a respectable wage-revision and other allied matters.

It is worth mention that unions had decided to postpone the 8^th July strike on request of LIC management and hoped a positive talk in July itself which did not occur.

Tomorrow’s meeting is in this background.

NOINO MEETS AMIT SHAH, PRESIDENT, BJP

A NOINO delegation led by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister & President, NOINO met Shri Amit Shah, President, BJP yesterday i.e. 9^th July evening at 4.10 pm at Bandra, Mumbai. Shri Javadekarji was accompanied by Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor, NOINO & Shri Ketan Purandare, All India EC member, NOINO.

The delegation basically drew Shri Shah's attention to two points – viz. delinking of Insurance Industry from that of the Banking Industry, particularly with regards to wage-revision & the attitude of the officials in the Finance Ministry who were blocking the legitimate demands of LIC employees. We urged him to intervene in this matter.

The delegation also handed over a memorandum which contained our demands relating to:-

1. Wage revision commensurate with LIC’s paying capacity,

2. One more(final) option for pension,

3. 5 days week (all Saturdays & Sundays off), and

4. Anomaly after computer increment.

Shri Amit Shah listened to us patiently. He recalled his association with LIC when he was a crorepati agent. He also assured the delegation to look into the issues raised by it.

NOINO will continue to follow-up the pending issues at all levels.

NOINO meets ED(Personnel)

A NOINO delegation led by Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, GS and Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor met Shri Neeraj Agrawal, ED(Personnel) on 6.7.2015. Smt. Trupti Brahme and Smt. Neeta Prabhavalkar, both NOINO EC members were also present.

We discussed following issues along with particular individual cases.

1. One more option for pension :- We once again raised this issue & enquired about the status of this long-pending demand repeating all our arguments in favour of settlement of the issue. ED said that till now the management was NOT successful in convincing the concerned authorities but would continue its efforts.

 2. Wage revision :- We conveyed the resentment & frustration prevailing  in the minds of all (officers and) employees due to delay in the negotiations. We appealed management to expedite the talks and come with proposal as per expectations of the employees.

We also opposed the linkage of our wage-revision with that of Banks and reiterated our demand to pay as per paying capacity of LIC.

ED promised to once again take up the issues with Govt of India for early negotiations & settlement.

3. Anomaly in fixation after computer increment :- NOINO is the only union who has been raising this issue and following up the same vigorously. The details were discussed and ED assured to look in this issue and address it in near future by whatever possible means.

4. Five days' week :- We once again raised the voice of all employees to implement 5 days’ week (ALL SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS OFF) in LIC. It was brought to the notice of the management that other insurers(GIC) enjoy this benefit since long. ED assured to pay attention on it favourably.

5. Sabbatical/ Child care leave ;- We once again raised this issue. ED has assured to put up this before the Board and get it approved at the earliest.

NOINO assures to follow up the issues regularly and force management to take decisions in favour of employees. It also appeals to all employees to co-operate & participate whole-heartedly in the Joint Front programmes.

NOINO completes 13 yrs of existence – memories invited

NOINO was formed on 29^th June 2002. As such, with the close of 28^th June 2015, NOINO completed 13 years of a very purposeful existence.

Dear office bearers, activists and members of NOINO; many of you might have been with NOINO since inception. Some of you may have joined later.

On this occasion, we invite articles from you. We intend to compile & publish these depending on the response. You may write something about NOINO. You may also share your experience.

While sending the article, please take care of following points:

1. The article should be preferably in ENGLISH & not exceeding 20 sentences.

2. The article should be sent ONLY by email in a Microsoft Office Word document as an attachment. The articles should contain the details of the sender {name, designation, posting, post in NOINO(if any)}.

3. The articles should be sent LATEST by 7th July to:

    dh.prabhukhanolkar@licindia.com

    &

    g.kamath@licindia.com .

We expect a positive response from you.

Strike of 8th July deferred

As per decisions taken earlier by joint front of unions in LIC, officers and employees were to go on one day strike on 8^th July 2015 besides other agitational programmes to secure a good wage revision and one more pension option.

On 29^th June 2015, LIC management wrote to unions requesting them to withdraw the July 8 strike as they (the management) were making all out efforts to get the approval of the government for an early and satisfactory wage settlement.

The unions considered the request of the management and came to unanimous decision to defer the proposed strike (on 8^th July) in view of management's positive response.

The unions will meet again later in the month of July to review the developments and plan for the next course of action.

However, it has been decided to hold demonstrations during lunch recess and submit a memorandum by the delegation of all Zonal leaders of the unions to the Zonal Managers on 8^th July 2015 impressing upon the need for an early settlement of wage revision and other allied issues.

The joint statement issued in this regard by the unions is reproduced below:

Subscription fees of NOINO raised

As per decisions taken in EC meeting of NOINO at Kolkata on 21^st & 22^nd June 2015, the subscription fees of NOINO have been raised. The Yearly Subscription Fee is now Rs.400/- per year whereas the Life Membership Fee has been raised to Rs.3000/- one time (earlier these were Rs. 250/- & 2500/- respectively). The new rate is applicable w.e.f. 1^st July 2015.

Non-members and existing yearly members may utilize the opportunity to become members and life-members respectively at old rates of subscription fees (250/- & 2500/- respectively) by 30^th June 2015.