Bank employees begin two days strike
Banking operations across the country will be affected on today and tomorrow as bank unions go on strike for two days against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders.
With the conciliation meeting between bank unions and the Central government failing, about 10 lakh bank employees will strike work for two continuous days – March 15 and 16 – protesting against the government decision to privatise public sector banks, the All India Bank Employees` Association (AIBEA) had said earlier on Thursday.
Banking services including deposits and withdrawal at bank’s branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals are going to be affected by the strike. However, ATMs are likely to remain functional. Over 10 lakh bank employees and officers of the banks will participate in the strike.
According to AIBEA General Secretary C. H.Venkatachalam, the conciliation meeting held between the bank unions and the Union Finance Ministry on March 4, 9 and 10 failed.
The unions said they would reconsider their strike call if the government agrees to reconsider their decision to privatise public sector banks.
As the Finance Ministry representative could not give any such commitment, the conciliation meeting did not yield any positive result, they said.