The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, has given a call for a two-day strike from December 16 to December 17 to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders.
Why are banks protesting?
In the Union Budget presented in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan. This has irked bank unions and they are appealing to the government to withdraw its plan.
The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the past four years.
The government has listed the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, for introduction and passage during the current session of Parliament.
In view of this, UFBU has decided to oppose the move for privatisation, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said in a statement.
"In a developing country like India, where banks deal with huge public savings and they have to play a leading role to ensure broad-based economic development, public sector banking with social orientation is the most appropriate and imperative need," Venkatachalam added.
Hence, he said, for the past 25 years, under the banner of UFBU ''we have been opposing the policies of banking reforms which are aimed at weakening public sector banks''.
SBI opposes nationwide strike
On Monday, Public sector banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI) has urged the bank unions to not to hold a nationwide strike. The banks urged its employees to refrain from participating in the protest amid COVID-19 and for the convenience of customers, Jagran English reported.
SBI wrote, "We have been advised by the Indian Banks’ Association (lBA) that United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has served a Notice of Strike, informing that the members of the constituent Unions of UFBU viz. AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, and INBOC propose to go on a nationwide Bank Strike on l6th & l7th December 2021 in support of their demands," according to media reports.
"We advise that while the Bank has made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices on the days of Strike, it is likely that work in our Bank may be impacted by the Strike," it added.
UFBU's umbrella of banks
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 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).
(With media inputs)
