INBEF not to participate in tomorrow's strike call

Ahmedabad, Dec 13 (UNI) The Gujarat unit of the Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), a wing of INTUC, today said they would not be participating in the bank strike called by some associations and trade unions tomorrow.

INBEF president Gautam Thakar told UNI that all unions have already planned a strike in January 2007, to press for their demands.

The unions, affiliated to the Left parties, control 45 per cent of membership. The workmen and clerical cadres could be striking though the Officers Union has withdrawn from the strike, he added.

In a release here, Mahagujarat Bank Employees Association (MBEA) chief Dushyant Trivedi, whose association is affiliated to AIBEA, said lakhs of workmen from banking and insurance sectors in the state would join the All-India General Strike called by the Left to press for its 16-point charter of demands, including legislation to provide social security for the country's 370 million unorganised workers.

MBEA said their demands, among others, are for stern measures from the Central government to bring prices under control, strenghten public distribution, protect the unorganised workers in agriculture sector through a law, provide employment to the urban unemployed, implementation of labour laws in humane manner, a law to check harassment at work places and lifting the embargo on new recruitment.

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