Between the holiday season and strikes, majority of the banks will stay shut for five days between Friday, 21 December to Wednesday 26 December, giving customers only one day on Monday, 24 December, to finish their work.
AIBOC, UFBU Strikes Extend Customers’ Plight
A union of Public Sector Bank (PSB) officers has called for a strike on Friday, 21 December, demanding immediate wage revision and protesting merger of the state-owned banks.
The strike call given by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) is expected to hit banking operations across the country. 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 26 December.
Banks Closed on 21, 22, 23, 25, 26 Dec
Taking into account 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 26 December, there are three holidays — fourth Saturday on 22 December, then Sunday, 23 December and then Christmas on Tuesday, 25 December.
Ravinder Gupta, AIBOC joint general secretary 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 of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.
Few banks, excluding major 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.
Such a fractured mandate will result in deep cut of allocated funds meant for distributing among the various heads of pay slip components, Gupta said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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