Chennai: Banking services were hit in Chennai and other parts of the country today, courtesy a day-long strike over demands of wage revision and stopping the merger of three public sector banks.
The strike has been called by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC). The strike that began at public sector banks from midnight of 20 December will last till midnight of today (21 December). On the other hand, it is business as usual at private sector banks which are not part of the strike.
But, hold on. All banks will be closed tomorrow as it is the fourth Saturday of the week while Sunday is another weekly holiday. It will be on Monday when banks will operate as usual before again shutting down for the next two days.
On Tuesday, banks will be closed for Christmas holiday while on Wednesday, 26 December, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of the top nine bank unions, has called for a nationwide strike.
The impact of Wednesday’s strike will be more profound as even private bankers are expected to join the protest. According to reports, about 10 lakh bankers from all banks will be a part of the strike.
All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), part of the UFBU, is protesting the proposed merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. AIBEA general secretary C H Venkatachalam said mergers will kill bank branches while the focus should be on NPA recoveries.
AIBOC joint general secretary Ravinder Gupta said it is demanding wage revision based on the minimum wages formula without linking to profits or paying capacity.
Services at ATMs are expected to be normal during today’s bank strike, but are likely to be affected on 26 December since more bank unions will be involved.
The bank unions feel that the mergers of these three banks will lead to job cuts and allow private sector banks to dominate the industry.
As of now, only a few banks have written to the Indian Banks’ Association for negotiating salaries of officers only up to Scale III, said Charanjit, a senior member of the Canara Bank Officers’ Association.
Differences in demands by banks will result in a huge cut in the funds meant for various components of the pay slip of employees, Gupta said.
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What they want? |
| * Wage revision * Stopping merger of 3 public sector banks * Focus on NPA recoveries * Bankers feel mergers will lead to job cuts * They say it allow private sector banks to dominate |