Unions' strike partially impacts banking services

Banking services were partially impacted on Monday as a section of bank employees did not report for duty in support of the two-day nationwide general strike called by central trade unions.

However, there was hardly any impact on the functioning of new generation private sector banks.

Transactions at many public sector banks have been impacted as employees have not reported for duty. Besides, there might be a delay in cheque clearances and government treasury operation might also be affected by the strike.

The impact of the strike is prominent in eastern India as many branches of public sector banks there are closed, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said.

In the other regions, branches are open as officers are present but services are being impacted due to many employees participating in the strike, he said.

Bank unions are protesting against the government move to privatise two public sector banks as announced in Budget 2021-22. They are also demanding an increase in interest rate on deposits and reduction in service charges.

Besides AIBEA, Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) are also part of the two-day strike call given by the joint forum of central trade unions and various sectoral independent trade unions to protest against government's anti-people economic policies and anti-worker labour policies.

All Indian Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), among others are demanding scrapping of the proposed changes in labour laws and privatisation in any form. Increased allocation of wages under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and regularisation of contract workers are also part of their demands.

Most of the banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), had informed their customers about the proposed strike and likely impact on the services in advance.