Bank employees to go on strike on 26th Dec protesting against the merger of 3 banks
Posted on: 15/Dec/2018 12:41:52 PM
The bank employees are set to go on a token 1-day strike on 26th December protesting against the central government’s proposal for the merger of 3 banks. The central government had taken a decision to merge Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda and has announced the same.
This merger of 3 banks is set to be carried out after the merger of all associate banks with the State Bank of India.
The bank employee unions have been protesting against this proposal citing that there would be problems in recovering the unpaid debts and also may lead to loss of jobs of several employees. Subsequently, they have announced the decision to go on strike as a protest.
The General Secretary of the Federation of the All India Bank Employees’ Unions, C. H. Venkatachalam, explained in this regard:
‘The central government has decided on the merger of the 3 banks – Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, and Vijaya Bank. Several protests have already been carried out against this. There are no indications about any change of mind from the central government. It has to be noted in this instance even though all associate banks have been merged with the State Bank of India, they are still operating under loss only.
Presently, there is an unrecovered debt amounting o Rs. 80000 in the 3 banks. Several branches may be closed after the merger. Many employees will likely lose their jobs. So, it may not be possible to pursue the recovery of pending unrecovered debts. With the closing of branches, there would be a substantial reduction in the number of employees. The regular plan of recruiting 15000 new workers every year would also be disturbed. As there are serious issues as explained above, the central government must cancel this proposal.
For all the reasons cited above, the bank employees will go on a 1-day token strike on 26th December on behalf of the Federation of All India Bank Employees Unions.’
