Unions warn of indefinite strike if centre refuses to budge

Jamshedpur, Dec. 16: Banking operations of public sector lenders in Jamshedpur and Kolhan were affected on Thursday as around 13,000 employees of 1300 bank branches of 12 public sector banks joined a two-day nation-wide strike against bank privatisation.

Employees of various PSBs went on the strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to protest against the government’s decision to privatise two more state-run banks.

On first day of the strike, bank employees and officers holding the union’s flag along with banner and poster were seen holding protest before their respective bank branches since 9 in the morning.

Customers of these public sector banks (PSBs) faced difficulties as services like cash withdrawals, cheque clearances and loan approvals were hit due to bank branches not being operational and the strike will have huge impact on Friday as well.

Bank unions announced that on Friday, they will continue to protest against the policies of the government by protesting outside their offices with poster-banners.

State Bank of India, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab and Sind Bank are part of the strike.

Bank strike also affects the ATMs operating in the city. Around 800 ATMs of all banks are operating in Kolhan which will be affected by the nationwide strike. However, money was filled in all ATMs on Wednesday. In such a situation, there was no problem ATM transaction on Thursday, but the strike will continue on Friday and in such a situation, many ATMs may run dry on Friday due to non-uploading of cash.

Overall, around nine lakh employees of various PSBs went on strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to protest against the government’s decision to privatise two more state-run banks.

The government had in Budget 2021-22 announced its intent to take up privatisation of two PSBs during the year.

UFBU is an 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).

Apart from PSBs, some employees from old generation private sector banks and regional rural banks were also on strike. Employee unions from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have also extended support to the strike, unions claimed.

Bank employees right from sweepers to senior executives in scale 5 are observing the two-day strike on December 16 and 17.

Employees demonstrated outside Bistupur SBI Main branch led by Rintu Rajak, District Convener of United Forum of Bank Unions.

Rintu Rajak said if the government fails to revisit its stand on bank privatisation, then employees will be compelled to resort to an indefinite strike and all the responsibility will be of the central government and the finance ministry.

Rintu Rajak further said that future of lakhs of employees is in dark due to the selfishness of some officers.

The strike in Jamshedpur was led by Rintu Rajak in front of State Bank of India, RA Singh and Heera Arkane in front of PNB, RB Sahai and KN Naidu in front of Central Bank, Sanjeeva Reddy and Shruti Sarita in front of Union Bank, Aditi Prakash, Amitabh Ghosh, Prabal Topno and Kulkant Hembram  in front of Bank of Baroda.

Satyajit Giri, Satya Prakash, Khushboo Munda before Bank of India, Premlal Sahu led the strike before Premlal Sahu.