The leaders of UFBU's constituents held a meeting here today and according to some senior leaders, ``we are prepared to negotiate on the quantum of pension which is to be included in the overall wage hike.''

Confirming this, general secretary of All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) S R Sengupta told PTI that they had also received indications from IBA that they were willing to negotiate the pension cost.

The UFBU and IBA are scheduled to hold talks tomorrow and the day after to finalise the long pending seventh bipartite bank wage settlement. Sengupta said there would be an attempt at a definite conclusion, from both parties.

The IBA has been insisting that pension costing at 26.5 per cent of the pensionable salary would be included in the total load of 12.5 percent, while according to the unions, costing of pension for purposes of wage revision should be restricted to ten per cent of the basic pay and the additional cost of 16.5 per cent should not be carved out of the wage packet.

At today's meeting strong resentment was expressed by the UFBU at the Verma panel recommendations on weak banks and an action plan has been chalked out by them.

The unions, along with their leaders, will hold a demonstration and rally tomorrow while future plans include seminars and talks to educate people about the `shortcomings' of the panel's recommendations, Sengupta said.

Non-performing assets had been glossed over in the report, he said.