The Officers felt the need to overcome the various oppressive tactics of the Management through unionization. In many banks, Officers started unionizing in mid sixties. Officers in Banks like State Bank of India, Central Bank of India organized themselves. In Canara Bank the trend towards organizing started slowly. Frustrated and disgusted with the Management's lack of proactive approach to the issues of Officers, many of the Officers who were militant during the clerical tenure approached the leaders of the workmen union appealing to them to form an Officers' wing within the Employees' Union. Their hope was that an Officers' wing of AIBEA formed by the members of employees’ union would be very strong and effective. In sharp contrast with this expectation, the senior leaders of workmen union snubbed the young Officers by saying “you will be our rivals and therefore, liabilities to us, we can't help you.” The Officers did not have statutory protection unlike the workmen. Apart from this, employees' union leaders had an aversion to the concept of workmen-officer unity. Because of these reasons the workmen union leaders did not respond to the appeal of the Officers.

1966: THE FORMATION OF OFFICERS’ CLUB

A group of Officers in Mumbai (Then Bombay) came together and had series of Meetings to work out a plan. In the initial stages, the Officers working at Mumbai came together and formed the Officers' Club in 1966. The late Sri.N D Kotak, Sri.V P Kamath, Sri.K N Kini, Sri.M P Shenoy took the lead in forming the Club at Mumbai. Simultaneously efforts were on at Madras, Bangalore and Mangalore. The Officers' Club was formed at Chennai with Sri.C R Vaitheeswaran, Sri.D P Srinivasan, Sri.N Kalyanasundaram, Sri.Thanikachalam taking the lead to form the club. Similar efforts were made at Mangalore and Bangalore. Stalwarts of the movement such as Sri.M G Pai, Sri.Vikram Maliye, Sri.P P Nayak, Sri.B B Nayak, Sri.B R Kamath, Sri.H R Shenoy were actively involved in the formation of the Club.

1970: REGISTRATION OF CBOA

The success of the indefinite strike in State Bank of India in 1969 gave an impetus to formation of Association of officers in different Banks including Canara Bank. At the end of the year 1969, after nationalisation of 14 major commercial Banks, it was felt that there should be one and united Association. As a result, in the beginning of 1970 the leaders from all the centres came together and had a series of Meetings to workout a plan. The Canara Bank Officers' Association was registered under Trade Union Act-1926 in February,1970.

The Foundation Conference of the Association was held at Mangalore. The following were elected as Office bearers of the Association.

RECOGNITION BY THE MANAGEMENT

In the formative year our Association faced stiff resistance from the Members of employees union and the Officers who were still continuing as members of Canara Bank Employees' Union. Amidst this adversary position the Association gained ground slowly and steadily and the Management of Canara Bank accorded recognition to CBOA in the year 1970. The Association was accorded recognition for participating in the Joint Conferences to be held at Head Office for redressal of grievances of the Officers' Community, in the year 1970.

1979 : STRIKE LAUNCHED BY CBOA AGAINST THE PILLAI COMMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS.

To bring standardisation in the salaries and allowances of Officers in the Banking Industry, the Government of India had appointed a Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Pillai in 1973 who submitted a report in the month of May 1974. Prior to the recommendations of the Pillai Committee, the Group “A” Officers in the Central Government were drawing monthly basic pay of Rs.450/- whereas the Officers in the Banking Sector were drawing basic pay of Rs.500/-.The Bank Officers were drawing more basic pay of Rs.50/- as compared to the Group “A” Officers of the Central Govt. The recommendations brought parity between the Group “A” officers of the Central Govt and the Officers in the Banking Industry by fixing Basic Pay of Rs.700.00. This resulted in curtailment of Salary and Allowances for the Officers of Banks. The recommendations were given effect from 01.07.1979. In protest against the Recommendations of the Pillai Committee, the Officers of Canara Bank launched an agitation, initially non-co-operation by sticking to work to rule, non-submission of statements/reports including RBI statement, ultimately ending up in indefinite strike for 7 days in the month of October 1979. Though the Officers' community could not achieve much out of the agitation, it galvanised the Officers' community in our Bank and CBOA emerged as one of the very strong, militant bodies in the Banking Industry. The Indefinite strike was total and it paved the way for clinching other facilities for the Officers of our Bank.

1983: NINTEEN EIGHTY THREE

The then General Secretary, Sri. Jeppu Vasantha Rao had raised some objections to some of the actions of the Management, which he felt were detrimental to the interests of the Bank. Being a Member on the Board of Directors, he threatened to reveal some of the unsavory developments leading to adverse impact on the growth of the Bank. This was treated as a breach of trust that a Director on the Board of the Bank was supposed to maintain.

In the meanwhile, CBOA had embarked upon an idea of floating a Trust in the name of CBOA TRUST FUND, with an objective of undertaking charitable activities like running schools, hospitals etc. The Office bearers, well wishers, our members across the country were asked to collect funds from our customers and well wishers. There was tremendous response to the drive and were able to collect good amount of money. CBOA TRUST FUND acquired a house property at Chamarajpet, Bangalore at a cost of Rs.12.00 lakhs, in the year 1983.

Meanwhile, the IR atmosphere in the Bank was vitiated by the oppressive actions of the Management against some of the Office bearers. Charge sheets were slapped on the Office bearers. In violation of agreement on Transfer Policy, between the Management and CBOA, some of the top Office bearers including the General Secretary were transferred to far off places. The then General Secretary of our Association Sri. Jeppu Vasantha Rao was transferred to Shadol in Madhya Pradesh. Three principal Office bearers Sri. S A Kini, Sri. P S Rajagopal and Sri. M V Bhat were issued charge sheets and were transferred out of the places where they were working. This affected the smooth functioning of CBOA. The check-off facility was withdrawn pushing our Association to the brink of collapse. The three principal office bearers were imposed with punishment of “Dismissal from service of the Bank.” There was a reign of terror let loose on the Officers' community in the Bank. Many officers deserted the Association out of fear of punitive action. The Management itself encouraged formation of Officers' unions under different banners as rivals to CBOA. This lead to trading of Membership. This resulted in reduction in the strength of Membership almost to a level of losing majority status.

1984: NINTEEN EIGHTY FOUR

The vindictive transfers of top Office bearers of CBOA were not reversed by the Management till 1984. The tenure of Sri. Jeppu Vasantha Rao as Director on the Board of Canara Bank, ended in 1984 and subsequently there was no Officer Director on the Board of Canara Bank till 1992. In the Biennial Conference held at Hyderabad in 1984, Sri. Jeppu Vasantha Rao was elected as General Secretary, Sri M G Pai was elected as the President of the Association. Sri Sudhakar Shetty was re-elected as Deputy General Secretary and Central Liaison Officer. The team had to virtually struggle day in and day out to bring normalcy in industrial relations atmosphere.

1985: NINTEEN EIGHTY FIVE

In protest against all these unilateral actions of the Management a strike call was given by CBOA. The strike programme slated for 22nd February 1985 was a failure as many regions in the country did not participate in the strike. Many top Office bearers themselves did not participate in the strike. It was a saga of betrayal. The strike was partially successful in Mangalore Region and to some extent in Bangalore Region. Most of the other regions did not respond to the strike call which exposed the inherent weakness of CBOA. Many Office bearers who participated in the strike which was declared illegal by the Management were issued with charge sheets and the threat of punitive action by the Management was looming large.

Meanwhile, our Bank Management had filed a criminal case in the Supreme Court against the Office bearers of Association for collecting funds from the Public for promoting the CBOA TRUST FUND. The Supreme Court delivered a judgement against the Office bearers of CBOA, by declaring that Bank's name cannot be used in promoting such Trust and by using the name of Canara Bank the Office bearers have unduly influenced the general public, especially the customers of the Bank in giving donations to the Trust Fund. This was declared as illegal. The Supreme Court cancelled the panel of Trustees nominated by the Association, precluding the working Officers of the Bank from being appointed as Trustees of the Fund. The Charity Commissioner of Mumbai framed a suo motu Trust Deed and nominated Sri. L V Subramanian, then General Secretary of AICOBOO, as the Managing Trustee and other Office bearers of AICOBOO as Trustee. There was no Trustee from CBOA ranks or from Canara Bank.

The oppressive tactics of the Management continued and the three principal Office bearers were summarily removed from services of the Bank. The Management did not budge on the issue of transferring the principal Office bearers to far off places which hampered smooth functioning of the Association. All the activities were brought to a standstill as the financial strength of the Association deteriorated to an abysmally low level. The Office bearers had to go around to collect the subscription amount from the members. The Office bearers and activists had to spend money for travel from their own pockets.

1986: NINTEEN EIGHTY SIX

In 1986 Biennial Conference held at Bengaluru, Sri N Jagadish was elected as President, Sri H S Gajanana Rao was elected as General Secretary, Sri B Sudhakar Setty was elected as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer. After the Conference, Sri H S Gajanana Rao was promoted to SMG Scale IV but he argued with the Management that as General Secretary of CBOA he cannot move out of Association Head Quarters and he should be retained at Mumbai only. Management did not accept the suggestion and hence, Sri Gajanana Rao declined the promotion to SMG Scale IV and continued as General Secretary of CBOA. Sri M G Pai, who was a member of the Central Negotiating Team was promoted to SMG Scale IV and was posted to Kolkata.

The team under the leadership of Sri. Gajanana Rao struggled to rebuild the organisation and bring it to the original shape. But by this time considerable damage was caused to the cause of CBOA, as the minority unions which sprung up on the horizon of Canara Bank, with the tacit support of the Management who were out to finish CBOA, had already made inroads into the membership base of the Association. In 1986 the Canara Bank Officers' Union with the support of Canara Bank Employee' Union, had achieved membership strength of 34%, reducing CBOA's strength to just 58%, with the small fringe groups like NOBO, CBOC enjoying a small membership strength. Many Officers who were members of CBOA remained neutral. This was a tough task for the team to resurrect the past glory of CBOA.

In 1986 Sri P S Rajagopal, who was Deputy General Secretary of our Association, was summarily dismissed from service of the Bank. Also Sri S Achut Kini, Sri M Vishwanath Bhat, office bearers from Mumbai were dismissed from service of our Bank. Because of CBOA's consistent follow up the Management reinstated Sri M Vishwanath Bhat and he was posted to Ahmedabad.

The Management of Canara Bank came down heavily on the Office bearers of CBOA during the period 1983 to 1986. There were no Joint Conferences during the period and hence, no benefits were passed on to the Officers of the Bank. There were promotions to various scales, which were decided by the Bank unilaterally. Ultimately, in the year 1986 normalcy in IR was restored by signing a code of conduct by the Office bearers of the Association. The Joint Conferences were resumed with the attendant seriousness and benefits started flowing to the officers' community. As a prelude to the Code of Conduct a Comprehensive Transfer Policy was signed by the Association and Management where the transfers to North Indian Branches/Offices was restricted to 3 years and such Officers were repatriated to home state after completing 3 years' active service. The Transfer Policy imposed restrictions on the protection extended to Office bearers. Prior to this, the service in North Indian Branches/ Offices was restricted to 2 years.

1988: NINTEEN EIGHTY EIGHT

In the year 1988 at the Biennial Conference held at Chennai, Sri N Jagadish was re-elected as President, Sri H S Gajanana Rao as the General Secretary. Sri B Sudhakar Setty was elected as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer. By this time the Industrial Relations atmosphere in the Bank had improved and CBOA was in a position to negotiate with the Management and get some benefits to the Officers.

1990: NINTEEN NINETY

The Biennial Conference was held at Madurai in the month of October 1990. Sri H S Gajanana Rao was elected as President, Sri B Sudhakar Setty, as General Secretary and Sri P Sanjeeva Rao as Deputy General Secretary and Central Liaison Officer. The Management of Canara Bank agreed to accept the panel of Defence Representatives to take up defence of charge sheeted Officers in any corner of the country by the panel members. Sri H S Gajanana Rao, Sri B Sudhakar Setty, Sri P Sanjeeva Rao were in the All India Defence Panel and defended many charge sheeted Officers in every nook and corner of India. The members of the defence panel utilised the opportunity of going all over the country to consolidate the Officers under the banner of CBOA.

1992: NINTEEN NINTEY TWO

In the year 1992, the WP filed in the Supreme Court seeking representation to the Officer bearer of majority Association on the Board of Canara Bank was considered in favour of CBOA and the nomination of Sri B Sudhakar Setty, as Director on the Board of Canara Bank was cleared. The void of not having our representative on the Board of our Bank was bridged after a gap of almost 9 years. It was a big victory and morale booster for CBOA. This enabled the Association to bargain with the Management in an assertive manner. CBOA started retrieving its lost ground on membership front.

The next Biennial Conference of our Association was held at Chennai in the year 1992 where Sri M N Sundaram was elected as President, Sri Sudhakar Setty as General Secretary, Sri P Sanjeeva Rao as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer. The All India Defence Panel had the following representatives: Sri M N Sundaram, Sri B Sudhakar Setty, Sri P K Das.

1995: NINETEEN NINETY FIVE

Biennial Conference was held at Mangaluru in February 1995. Sri M N Sundaram was elected as President, Sri B Sudhakar Setty, as General Secretary, Sri K B Ballur was elected as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer upon retirement of Sri P Sanjeeva Rao.

Sri B Sudhakar Setty's tenure as Director on the Board of Canara Bank was completed in August 1995 and Sri P K Das was nominated as Director on the Board of Canara Bank. Sri P K Das was Director on the Board of Canara Bank upto October 1998.

Sri M N Sundaram, President of CBOA laid down his Office in the month of October 1996 and the Central Committee Meetings subsequently were held under the Presidentship of Sri P K Das.

1997: NINETEEN NINETY SEVEN

The next Biennial Conference was held at Mysuru in April 1997. Sri B Sudhakar Setty stepped down as General Secretary of our Association. But the entire General Body was not prepared to lose the guidance and inspiration of Sri Sudhakar Setty and he was unanimously elected as Chairman of CBOA. The Chairman's post was created during the Conference. Sri P K Das from Kolkata, was elected as President, Sri S K Kohli from Delhi was elected as General Secretary, Sri K B Ballur was re-elected as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer.

1998: NINTEEN NINETY EIGHT

In October 1998 the tenure of Sri P K Das as Director on the Board of Canara Bank was completed and Sri S K Kohli was appointed as Director on the Board of Canara Bank. Sri S K Kohli continued as Director on the Board of Canara Bank till February 2002.

1999: NINETEEN NINETY NINE

The next Biennial Conference was held at Chennai in October 1999. Sri Sudhakar Setty as Chairman, Sri P K Das, was elected as President, Sri S K Kohli as General Secretary. Sri K B Ballur was re-elected as Deputy General Secretary and Central Liaison Officer. Later Sri Sudhakar Setty stepped down as Chairman of CBOA as he was promoted to SMG Scale IV and was transferred to Mangaluru.

2002: TWO THOUSAND TWO

The next General Body and Biennial Conference was held at Hyderabad in February, 2002. Sri P K Das was elected as President, Sri S K Kohli as General Secretary. In March 2001 Sri R Vasudeva Rao, Vice President, Sri V M Kannappan Vice President laid down their Office as they sought Voluntary Retirement from the service of our Bank under SVRS. During the period April 2001 to March 2002, Sri K Vasanthalal, was entrusted with Central Liaisoning work along with Sri K B Ballur. Sri K R S Murthy was elected as Deputy General Secretary in the Hyderabad Conference and was entrusted with the responsibility of Central Liaoning along with Sri K B Ballur, Vice President.

Sri R K Awasthi, Vice President of CBOA was appointed as Director on the board of Canara Bank in February, 2002.

2004: TWO THOUSAND FOUR

The next Biennial Conference was held at Mysuru in the month of April 2004. Sri P K Das, was elected as Chairman, Sri K B Ballur was elected as President, Sri S K Kohli was elected as General Secretary. Sri K R S Murthy was elected as Deputy General Secretary & Central Liaison Officer.

2007: TWO THOUSAND SEVEN

The next Biennial Conference was held at Chennai in November 2007. Sri R K Awasthi was elected as Chairman, Sri P K Das, was elected as President and Sri S K Kohli was elected as General Secretary. Sri K R S Murthy was elected as Deputy General Secretary and continued as Central Liaison Officer. Sri K B Ballur, President, retired from service of the Bank in September, 2007 and laid down his Office as President.

2010: TWO THOUSAND TEN

The next Biennial Conference was held at Bengaluru in November 2010. Sri K S Singh, was elected as Chairman, Sri K R S Murthy as President and Sri.R K Awasthi as General Secretary. Sri A N Krishna Murthy, Deputy General Secretary was nominated as Central Liaison Officer.

Sri R K Awasthi, General Secretary laid down his Office as a sequel to his retirement from the service of Canara Bank in October 2011. Sri G V Manimaran, was co-opted as General Secretary of CBOA. Sri K R S Murthy laid down his Office as he retired from the service of our Bank in April 2012.

2013: TWO THOUSAND AND THIRTEEN

The next Biennial Conference was held at Chennai in November 2013 and the following Office bearers were elected. Sri A N Krishna Murthy as Chairman, Sri K S Singh as President, Sri G V Manimaran as General Secretary. Sri J S Jagadeesh was elected as Joint General Secretary and was nominated as Central Liaison Officer.

Sri K S Singh laid down his Office as President as he retired from Service of our Bank in March 2016. Sri A S N Reddy was co-opted as President in June 2016.

Sri. A N Krishnamuthy laid down his office as Chairman in May 2016. Sri A K Juneja was co-opted as Chairman and he also laid down his office in the month of Sept. 2016. Sri. J Vanangamudi was co-opted as Chairman in October 2016.

2016: TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN

Triennial Conference was held at Hyderabad in the month of November 2016 and the following Office bearers were elected unanimously. Sri. J Vanangamudi as Chairman, Sri. A S N Reddy as President and Sri. G V Manimaran as General Secretary

Sri. J Vanangamudi laid down his office as Chairman in June 2017 and Sri. R K Bharadwaj was co-opted as Chairman in Sept.2017. Sri. R K Bharadwaj also laid down his office in August 2019 and Sri. J S Jagadeesh was co-opted as Chairman in his place in Sept. 2019. Sri. A S N Reddy laid down his office in January 2018 and Sri. B K Mehta co-opted as President in April 2018. Sri. Uday Lodaya was nominated as Central Liaison Officer in Sept. 2019.

Long back association promoted an Educational Society and purchased three acres of land in Madurai from out of the fund collected from Members of Tamilnadu. The land was leased out to Dhan foundation for 49 years at Rs.1.00 per month for running a school. After 5 years of continuous follow up and with great difficulties the lean was cancelled and land was retrieved in the year 2016. With a dream of constructing Canpals Institute for Training and Research in Banking and Trade Union and Canpals Old Age Home , Bhoomi Pooja in 2016 in the august presence Padmasri T N Manoharan, Then Chairman of Canara Bank and Sri. G V Manimaran, General Secretary of CBOA and Vastu Function was held in August 2018.

2019: TWO THOUSAND NINETEEN

Triennial Conference was held at Chennai in the month of December 2019 and the following Office bearers were elected unanimously: Sri. J S Jagadeesh as Chairman, Sri. B K Mehta as President and Sri. G V Manimaran, General Secretary and Sri Uday Lodaya as Central Liason

In the annals of any organisation, there are ups and downs. For CBOA the eighties was the worst period and it had struggled hard to come out of the crisis. CBOA started building itself slowly in the nineteen nineties and consolidated during the early years of 2000 to 2009. Again there was a big turmoil in 2010 and couple top leaders have to step down ignominiously. However, after the retirement of Sri. R K Awasthi in October 2012, Sri. G V Manimaran took over as General Secretary. He has spearheaded our beloved CBOA in all sincerity and courage and his position as Director of Canara Bank helped in developing cordial relationship with the Bank Management.

2021: TWO THOUSAND TWENTY ONE

After a gap created due to the pandemic Covid, Central Committee Meeting of CBOA was held at Chennai in September 2021. During the Central Committee Meeting, Sri. Ravikumar was co-opted as General Secretary and Sri Jacop P Chittattukalm was Co- opted as Chairman as Sri G V Manimaran and Sri. Jagadeesh laid down the office due to retirement on superannuation from Service of Canara Bank.

Sri. B K Mehta laid down his office as President in October 2021 and Sri Rajiv Nigam was co-opted as President.

2022: TWO THOUSAND TWENTY TWO

Triennial Conference was held at Vijayawada in the month of November 2022 and the following Office bearers were elected unanimously: Sri. Jacop P Chittattukalam as Chairman, Sri. Rajiv Nigam as President and Sri. Ravikumar K as General Secretary and Sri Uday Lodaya as Central Liason.

Further, Sri. Ravikumar K toured the length and breadth of the country and interacted with the members. The membership of CBOA zoomed from 13000 in 2010 to around 50000 in 2023.

There has been a quite a calm in the activities of the association during the last many years and members have taken a pledge to improve the business growth of the Bank. Discipline in CBOA, Development in Canara Bank has become the Mantra of the members.