Two-Day Bank Strike From Jan 8

Mumbai: Banking services could be paralysed once again on January 8-9, causing hardships to customers, as a section of bank employees has pledged their support to the nation-wide general strike call given by the central trade unions.

The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees Federation of India have already informed the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) of the two-day nationwide strike on January 8-9.

The proposed strike call was informed by the IDBI Bank in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The banks would be joining the ten central trade unions — INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, AICCTU, UTUC, TUCC, LPF and SEWA — who have also called for a nationwide general strike on January 8-9, protesting the government’s alleged anti-worker policy.

In a separate filing to the BSE, Bank of Baroda said “in the event of AlBEA and BEFI proceeding on strike on January 8-9, 2019, the functioning of bank’s branches/offices in some of the zones may be affected.”

Earlier on December 26, 2018, nine bank unions or close to one million employees of various banks, including private lenders, had observed a one-day strike to protest against the proposed amalgamation of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda.