Bank employees strike work, oppose mergers

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 26

About 2,500 bank employees and officers, at the joint call of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), observed a complete strike due to which the banking activities were entirely halted. About 300 bank branches of the Jalandhar City and 650 branches in the district remained closed on the account of strike. As per information, cash transactions of Rs 200 crore and clearing transactions of Rs 180 crores were affected and as many as 20,000 cheques could not be cleared due to strike.

The strike was held to oppose the drastic changes in the Labour Laws. Amrit Lal, secretary, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (PBEF) said, “Unions cannot go on a strike if the matter is still in conciliation, referred to tribunal or arbitration. So, with these rules, we will not be able to hold strikes,” he said.

The protesters also said formation of unions would also be difficult, because now at least 100 employees should apply for registration of union, while earlier, it was only seven staff members.

The unions are also opposing the merger as well as privatisation of banks. They are also strongly opposing the proposal of the RBI to give bank licenses to corporate houses for opening of private banks.

A rally was held in front of the Punjab National Bank at GT Road, Jalandhar, which was attended by hundreds of union members.

Addressing the rally, Amrit Lal said it was unfortunate that the government was trying to privatise PSUs and going ahead with dismantling the same. “Workers are determined to defend public sector undertakings. Selling out PSUs to corporations is against the interest of common people,” he said.

The rally was also addressed by Ved Kumar, Divisional Secretary, Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association, Kamaljit Singh Kalra, HS Bir, Dalip Sharma, Raj Kumar Bhagat, RK Jolly, Sanjeev Bhalla, Balwant Rai and Jaswinder Singh.