Summary
- Close to 9 lakh bank employees will go on a strike.
- It is a two-day nationwide strike beginning today.
- The UFBU is protesting against the government’s move to privatise two public sector lenders.
- These PSBs will remain shut for transactions for four days in a row including the weekend.
About 9 lakh employees of various state-run banks will go on a nationwide strike beginning on 16th December 2021, Thursday, in order to protest against the government’s decision to privatise two more public sector banks,i.e., Central Bank of India and the Indian Overseas Bank, according to unions. This strike has been called to defend as well as preserve public sector banks.
The two-day strike has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella body of nine unions, including All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).
The government had in Budget 2021-22, announced its intent to take up privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) during the year. The union does not want the government to table the Bank Privatisation Bill (Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2021) during this session of the Parliament.
UFBU’s Convenor (Maharashtra) Devidas Tuljapurkar said that public sector banks are at the forefront in implementing all government schemes, such as Jan-Dhan Yojana, social sector insurance scheme and Mudra schemes, meant for the economically and socially backward sections of the society.
He said bank employees right from sweeper to senior executive on scale 5 are observing the two-day strike. Tuljapurkar further said approximately 5,000 bank employees will demonstrate at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Thursday.
Bank unions have decided to go on strike despite various public sector banks, including State Bank of India, Canara Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, urging them to withdraw the proposed strike and inviting them for further discussions.
Privatisation may result in the closure of bank branches in rural and backward areas, which may affect the implementation of various government schemes in these regions, Tuljapurkar added.
On Monday, SBI, in a statement, said it has requested the staff members to reconsider their decision and refrain from participating in the strike in the interest of our customers, investors, and banks.
Considering the ongoing pandemic situation, resorting to a strike will cause great inconvenience to the stakeholders, SBI had said.
The State Bank of India (SBI) and many other banks have cautioned their customers about the possible impact of the strike on banking operations like fund transfer and fund clearance.
Apart from public sector banks, some employees from old generation private sector banks and regional rural banks are also on strike. Employee unions from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees are also extending support to the strike, he said.
“We reiterated our stand that if the government would assure that the Bank Privatisation Bill (Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2021) would not be tabled during this session of the Parliament, we would be inclined to reconsider the strike but the government could not give any such assurance to us,” AIBEA general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.
