Bank employee unions to protest against merger, go on strike on October 22

Two major unions in the banking sector on Thursday announced that they would go on a one-day strike on October 22 protesting against the merger of government-owned banks.

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) said they proposed to go on strike from 6 a.m. on October 22 to 6 a.m. on October 23. The demands listed out by the two unions are: stop merger of banks, stop banking sector reforms, recover bad loans and take stringent action on defaulters, not penalising the customers with penal charges, stop attack on job security and recruit adequate people.

C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA said that around 3.5 lakh employees are expected to join the strike on that day. There are around 8.5 lakh bank employees across public, private, foreign and co-operative banks in the country. The co-operative bank employees are not part of the announced strike.

The unions will also engage in various agitation programmes including display of posters before all bank branches, black badge wearing, demonstration in all centres, Dharna in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mangalore apart from the strike on October 22.