Bank Strike Hits Operations, Clearance Of 40 Lakh Cheques Could Be Affected

Banking operations across the country were hit on Tuesday as 10 lakh employees staged a strike, said a bank union leader. The strike was called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), comprising nine unions.

Among other demands, bank unions also pressed for compensation to employees for extra work done on account of demonetisation. "Around 85,000 branches of commercial banks, 105,000 branches of co-operative bank and others are on strike," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) told IANS.

He said clearance of 40 lakh cheques totalling around Rs 22,000 crore would be affected.

The strike covers employees and officers in all public sector banks, including State Bank of India, all old-generation private banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks.

Mr Venkatachalam said the shutdown comes after all attempts to find a solution to the demands raised by the unions yielded no results.

The conciliation meeting before the Chief Labour Commissioner on February 21, failed to break the deadlock as the bank management body - Indian Banks Association (IBA) - did not agree to the union demands.

Most state-run banks have informed customers that functioning of branches and offices would be hit if the strike was observed on Tuesday.

Top private lenders - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank - are not part of the union and would continue to function normally but cheque clearances would not take place.
 

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