PSU bank unions to go on strike tomorrow

Four bank employee unions will go on one-day strike tomorrow to protest the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill and merger plans of banks. The unions decided to go ahead with the strike after the conciliatory meeting with Indian Banks' Association before the chief labour commissioner here failed, AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said.

Also read: PSU bank unions threaten to go on strike on Dec 20

Besides All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) are participating in the nation-wide strike. The unions claimed that about 7 lakh employees of various public sector banks would participate in the strike.

The strike follows Lok Sabha clearing Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill after the government dropped controversial provisions relating to allowing banks to trade in futures. The Bill paves the way for foreign investments in the sector and establishment of new private banks. The Bill will allows RBI to supersede boards of private sector banks and increase the cap on voting rights of private investors in PSBs to 10 per cent from 1 per cent.

Many banks, including Indian Bank and Corporation Bank, have informed customers that normal functioning of branches may be affected if strike materialises. Corporation Bank said that a section of the bank's employees may participate in the proposed strike on the said date, if the strike materialises. In view of the above, it is likely that the normal functioning of the branches may get affected, it said further.
    
The unions are contesting that the amendment to the banking laws will dilute the interest of public sector banks. In August, employees of public sector banks had gone on two-day nationwide strike opposing banking sector reforms and outsourcing of non-core activities.