Bank employees to go on strike on Sept 2 against proposed amendments to the labour labours

They are also demanding that Kingfisher Airlines' owner Vijay Mallya be declared as a willful defaulter

Around five lakh employees of public sector banks are planning to go on a strike on September 2. The strike is to protest against the proposed amendments to the labour laws to the detriment of the workers.

Bank employees have also decided to hold demonstrations demanding that Kingfisher Airlines' owner Vijay Mallya be declared as a wilful defaulter.

More than five lakh bank employees and officers of public sector banks, private banks, foreign banks, Regional rural banks and co-op. bank will join the strike, said C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA)

AIBEA will also launch national-level agitation against banking sector reforms from July 19. The central committee of AIBEA has also decided to launch a national-level agitation by bank employees against the banking reforms measures being pursued by the NDA/BJP Government.

AIBEA members would meet the customers and general public and obtain one crore signatures in the mass petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding strengthening of public sector banks and stopping bank privatisation, granting of banking license of corporate companies, and licence to private people for starting small banks and payment banks with a view to dilute public sector banks. AIBEA will meet the Prime Minister and hand over these mass petitions demanding remedial action to ensure a vibrant banking sector.

AIBEa claimed that bad loans in the banks are increasing month after month and touched more than Rs 3 lakh crores today. "This is in addition to more than Rs 3 lakh crore of bad loans re-structured and shown as good loan. Further, huge bad loans are being sold to private Asset Reconstruction Companies at cheaper prices," said Venkatachalam, adding that AIBEA will be publishing the latest list of big loan defaulters during the monsoon session of the Parliament.

AIBEA is demanding the government and RBI to publish the list periodically and take stringent action on the defaulters. AIBEA is demanding that wilful default of bank loan be deemed as a criminal offence and criminal action be taken against such defaulter.