1m Bank Employees In India To Go On A 2-day Strike

New Delhi, Aug 22, IRNA – Over Ten lakh Employees and officers in public sector banks and members of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) would go on a two-day strike on August 22 and 23 against the proposed reforms in the banking sector and outsourcing of jobs. The UFBU has decided to go ahead with the two-day strike in support of its demand as the reconciliation talks called by Chief Labour Commission in the morning have failed. UFBU, which is an umbrella organization of five employee unions and four officer unions of state-run banks in the country, is against the proposed banking sector reforms and unilateral implementation of the Khandelwal committee report. 'Talks and reconciliation have failed. Government and the IBA have not given any response to our demands. All India bank strike stands for August 22 and 23,' pti reported quoting Ashwani Rana, Secretary General, National Organization of Bank Workers (NOBW), a affiliate of UFBU. He further said, 'Nine unions and vice-president of Indian Banks Association (IBA) were present in the meeting. The government and IBA are not hearing to our demands. We are compelled to go on strike.' Meanwhile, Indian Bank in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said, 'A section of the bank's employees may take part in the proposed strike...in which case, the normal functioning of branches/offices of the bank may get affected.' The Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2011, which is before Parliament, contains provisions such as raising of shareholders' voting rights from 10 percent to 26 percent in private banks and supersession of bank boards. There are about 87,000 branches of public sector banks across the country. The state-owned lenders control about 75 per cent banking business. The unions which have given the strike call include All India Bank Employees Association, All India Bank Officers Confederation, National Confederation of Bank Employees, All India Bank Officers Officers Association, Bank Employees Federation of India, India National Bank Employees Federation, Indian National Bank Officers Congress, National Organisation of Bank Workers and National Organization of Bank Officers are part of the United Forum of Bank Unions. Beside one central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there are 26 nationalized, 20 private sectors and 33 foreign banks are operating in India.