Bank strike today: PSU banks to be affected, which services will be hit
New Delhi, Dec 21: Banking services are likely to be impacted for the next couple of days due to strikes, Christmas holiday and the weekend. However, private sector banks would continue their usual business as they are not part of the strike.
Most of the banks have already informed their customers about the strike and its impact on their normal banking operation.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of the top nine bank unions, has also decided to observe a strike on December 26.
Taking into account these two days of unions' strike and other holidays, banks would be closed for most of the extended Christmas weekend. So, most bank branches will be open only for a day between this Friday and next Wednesday. Till December 26, there are three holidays -- fourth Saturday on December 22, then Sunday and then Christmas on Tuesday.
AIBOC joint general secretary Ravinder Gupta said, "We have demanded wage revision based on the minimum wages formula without linking to profits or paying capacity."
Besides, the union has also opposed the proposed merger Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.
As of now many major banks have not given the mandate, few banks have given mandate to IBA for negotiating only upto Scale III officers, said Charanjit deputy general secretary Canara Bank Officers' Association, an affiliate of AIBOC said.
Such fractured mandate will be resulting in deep cut of allocated funds meant for distributing among the various heads of pay slip components, Gupta said.
As the allocated funds would be the agreed percentage of total pay slip components of up to scale III in respect of those banks which have given mandate and not the pay slip components of the entire industry of all the cadres including workmen, he added.
Transactions to be affected
Cheque and cash withdrawals at banks won't be possible during the five days (21st, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 26th December).
Dates on which bank services will be hit:
December
21:
Bank
officers'
union
strike
December
22:
Fourth
Saturday
Off
December
23:
Sunday
Weekly
Off
December
25:
Christmas
holiday
December
26:
Strike
by
United
Forum
of
Bank
Unions
ATM operations likely to stay unaffected
ATM machine operations may remain unaffected on December 21, the day that the All-India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) has called a strike, an official of the association said on Wednesday.
"We will not use any force to close the ATMs. The employees engaged in ATMs are not controlled by the officers' bodies," AIBOC assistant general secretary Sanjay Das said.
However, ATM operations may be hit on December 26, the day the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called a strike.