Strike in Banks 2018: The bank unions are calling strikes on December 21 and 26.
Before you gear up for your Christmas and New Year celebrations, keep in mind the upcoming bank holidays that may just throw a spanner in your vacation plans. Several bank unions are planning two nationwide bank strikes on December 21 and 26 and they are likely to hit banking services in the coming week. The banks will also remain closed on December 22 (fourth Saturday), Sunday (weekly off) and December 25 for Christmas. To avoid hassles, ensure you plan your banking activities accordingly.
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
Why are bank strikes being called?
The bank unions are calling strikes on December 21 and 26 to oppose the merger of public sector banks and a wage settlement.
The strike by the bank officers' union is being called on December 21 to demand full and unconditional mandate for the 11th bipartite wage revision talks based on a charter of demands submitted in May 2017.
"No headway has been made in the process so far even after 19 months since discussion on wage revision began," All India Bank Officers Confederation's (AIBOC) Assistant General Secretary Sajay Das said.
According to him, over 3.2 lakh officers of the union would participate in the strike.
The All India Bank Officers Confederation called the strike after it walked out of a bipartite negotiation demanding full mandate for scale I to scale VII officers, introduction of five-day work week, salary revision according to the charter of demands and a defined benefit pension payment scheme unlike the National Pension Scheme.
On December 26, a strike has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body comprising 9 employee and officer unions, to oppose the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. The merger of these three banks was approved by the government in September this year. UFBU is an umbrella body comprising nine employee and officer unions.
The union's West Bengal unit President Subhujyoti Chattopadahyay said the merger of the three banks - Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank - and the consolidation of Regional Rural Banks is a burning issue and a strike has been called for that.
The bank unions feel that the mergers of these three banks will lead to job cuts in the banking sector and allow private sector banks to dominate the industry.
How bank strike and holidays would affect services:
Services at ATMs are expected to be normal during bank strike on December 21, but are likely to get affected on December 26 since more bank unions are involved in this strike, news agency IANS reported. So, be prepared in advance to have uninterrupted New Year plans.