By Namini Wijedasa
Employees in the Colombo branches of nine private commercial banks are set to walk out of their offices in protest on September 30 regarding a salary issue, the powerful Ceylon Bank Employees' Union told 'The Island' yesterday.

Bank managements, meanwhile, "look like they are prepared to face the music if necessary", said the Employers' Federation of Ceylon (EFC). The EFC represents the managements of the nine banks.

Employees of the same banks will picket outside their offices tomorrow and on Tuesday against the failure of their managements to implement a satisfactory salary increase and wind up Collective Agreement talks. (The picketing campaigns will take place during the lunch hour). The central committee of the CBEU also decided last week that employees will participate in a protest meeting at the Ceylon Mercantile Union hall at Kollupitiya following Wednesday's walk-out.

CBEU sources said, the protest has been organised since talks on arriving at a satisfactory Collective Agreement have been "dragging on" since March this year. The agreement, which is revised every three years, expired in March. One of the sections of the agreement includes the salaries of employees. The CBEU has rejected the managements' proposals for a 15% wage hike for employees and asks for more. A senior member noted that the private banks are raking in profits and can afford to give a reasonable increase to their employees. As it stands, they alleged, "profits are shared among those at the top".

EFC general secretary, Franklyn Amerasinghe, told 'The Island' yesterday that bank managements are to issue a circular to their employees stating their position and clarifying the situation with regards to the Collective Agreement talks. He noted that the talks between the CBEU and the EFC broke down because the bank union maintained that the starting point for discussions on the salary issue would be a 25% increase on the gross salary (including the Cost of Living Allowance). "They said they would start negotiations starting at 25% and the bank managements refused to use this as a starting point," said Mr. Amerasinghe. The last discussion was held on September 18.

"Our offer for a 15% increase on the gross was made on a rational basis," asserted Mr. Amerasinghe, "It is unfair for the union to put forward such a demand". He also noted that bank managements have found they spend about Rs. 17,000 a month (including salary, Cost of Living Allowance and other benefits) for each young school leaver they take into employment.

The banks include the Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank, HongKong Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of India, Habib Bank and Habib Zurich Bank.