Bank strike to oppose merger on Dec 26

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 13

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) today held a massive demonstration in front of State Bank of India, Fountain Chowk. Naresh Gaur, Convener, United Forum of Bank Unions, JP Kalra, President State Bank of India Officers Association, Iqbal Singh Malhi, deputy general secretary, SBI Staff Association Pawan Thakur, President, Harvinder Singh, Senior vice president, etc, addressed the employees.

Addressing the bank employees, leaders of UFBU said the United Forum of Bank Unions consisting of nine bank unions viz AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO gave a call for all-India strike on December 26, opposing the merger of banks.

“The Government of India announced its decision on September 2018 to amalgamate Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. We have been holding demonstrations opposing this unwarranted move. In a country like India, where the government itself is talking of reaching all people under banking system, what we need is expansion of this sector and not the amalgamation and consolidation. Banking density in India is one of the lowest in the world. There is so much of space for banks to expand and reach all sections of the people. Hence, the merger of banks with a view to consolidate the banking sector is unnecessary and illogical. Even the mega merger of 6 banks with State Bank of India undertaken last year has not resulted in any benefit to SBI. On the other hand, SBI is having compulsions of branch closures and restructuring of their operations. SBI is also facing enhanced stress of bad loans. It had slipped into losses after the merger. We are also witnessing a shrink in the employment potential in SBI because the merger has resulted in surplus staff, said the leaders of the unions.

Even in the case of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, the only major problem faced by the banks is their high level of bad loans. Merger or amalgamation is no solution to recover these bad loans. In fact, under the merged entity, the recovery is bound to go haywire, they added.

Unfortunately, the government is bent on implementing their policy of privatisation and consolidation of banks. Despite our strong protests, these three banks are appearing to go ahead with the merger. Hence, in order to register our protest and draw public and political attention, the UFBU has decided to give the call for observing one-day strike on December 26.