2-Day Countrywide Strike Against Privatisation Hits PSU Bank Operations
Image for representational use only; Image Courtesy : The Financial Express
New Delhi: Banking operations, including cheque clearance across the country, got affected on Monday as bankers under the aegis of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) have gone on a nationwide strike to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders.
UFBU, an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16, and claimed that about 10 lakh bank employees and officers of the banks will participate in the strike.
However, branches of private sector lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank are open as they are not part of the strike.
In the Union Budget presented last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government's disinvestment plan.
The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019, and has merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years.
According to All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary CH Venkatachalam, services at branch level; cheque clearance; and government transactions have been affected.
Besides, money markets and stock markets are also going to face problems as payments would be impacted, he said.
Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI).
Others are the Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).
Maharashtra: 40,000 bank employees, officers join strike
Banking services in Maharashtra got affected on Monday as around 40,000 bank employees and officers went on a two-day strike to protest against the government's decision to privatise two more state-run banks.
UFBU's Maharashtra Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar in a statement said that about 40,000 bank employees and officers working in about 10,000 bank branches across the state have joined the nationwide strike.
State-run lenders, including Central Bank of India among others have informed their customers to use their digital channels like internet or mobile banking, ATMS services for making transactions during the two-day strike.
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