Strike cripples Central Bank operations in AP

Hyderabad, Jul 11 (UNI) Banking operations in the nationalised Central Bank of India in Andhra Pradesh came to a grinding halt as employees and the officers of the bank resorted to one-day strike today, as part of the nation-wide agitation in support of their demands.

General Secretary of the A P Central Bank Employees Association (APCBEA) B S Rambabu said about 1,600 employees and officers working in 105 branches and 12 extension counters of the bank in the state took part in the one-day strike.

He said the employees and officers of the Bank staged a slogan shouting demonstration in front of the bank here and at regional offices in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kurnool and other areas.

Employees and officers numbering 33,000 in 3,300 branches throughout the country took part in the strike, he added.

He said employees and officers belonging to Central Bank of India Employees Association, Central Bank of India Officers Union and Central Bank of India Employees Union were taking part in the strike.

He said the strike was to demand, among other things, withdrawal of unilateral transfer of the office bearers, deviation in the existing norms on discussions with the unions, withdrawal of unilateral instructions of stopping staff welfare schemes, stopping inordinate delay in settlement of Provident Fund, Gratuity and Pension, recruitment of clerks, sub-staff and delay in settlement of retirement benefits.

A meeting would be held in Mumbai on July 13 in which eight unions of the bank would decide the future course of action and also take a decision for a two-orthree-day strike by this month end, he said adding that unions would be forcd to intensify their agitation if the management did not respond to their legitimate demands.

Communist Party of India(CPI) MP Aziz Pasha assured the agitating employees that he would discuss their demands with the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

UNI CS/BR VA SSC1358