The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called a nationwide strike on the 16th and 17th of December to protest the proposed privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs). Employees of PSBs
such as the State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and the Central Bank of India will go on strike for two days (Thursday and Friday) starting today.
Around 60,000 bank employees in Maharashtra alone will go on strike.
The majority of banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), have issued warnings to their customers about the strike's potential impact on banking activities such as cheque clearance
and fund transfer.
The All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) General Secretary Soumya Datta claimed that a conciliatory meeting before the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner on December 15 failed,
thus unions are going forward with their planned strike.
During the current Parliament session, the government intends to introduce the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021. "We reiterated our stance that if the government could ensure us
that the Bank Privatisation Bill (Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2021) would not be tabled during this session of the Parliament, we would reconsider the strike," AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatachalam said.
Venkatachalam went on to say that if PSBs are privatised, bank branches in rural and backward areas will collapse, and all government programmes aimed at EWS (economically weaker sections)
will be harmed.
All about two-day strike
--Around nine lakh employees from various state banks are participating in the strike.
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- On December 1, employees and trade unions launched the 'Bank Bachao, Desh Bachao' protest campaign at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
-Since the Centre declared its plan to privatise two PSU lenders in its Budget 2021-22, unions have been protesting.
- "We have been informed by the Indian Banks' Association (lBA) that the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has served a Notice of Strike, informing that members of UFBU constituent
unions AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, and INBOC propose to go on a nationwide bank strike on December 16 and 17, 2021 in support of their demands."
--"While the bank has made necessary plans to guarantee normal operating in its branches and offices on strike days, work in our Bank is anticipated to be hampered by the strike,"
SBI said.
- In a tweet, SBI urged its employees to reconsider their decision and not participate in the strike. "Furthermore, given the current pandemic crisis, turning to a strike will create
considerable inconvenience to stakeholders," the tweet read.
- The State Bank of India (SBI) had already issued a warning to customers about the potential impact of the nationwide strike on banking operations.
- Previously, lenders such as Canara Bank, PNB, Punjab and Sind Bank, and Punjab and Sind Bank have encouraged their employee unions to reconsider their plans.