Banking services to be impacted as unions observe nationwide strike on Sep 11

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Banking services like cash withdrawals and deposits at public sector banks will be impacted on Friday as unions have decided to go on strike to press for five-day banking and other pending demands.

With the strike, banking services, especially in public sector banks, would be impacted for four days in many parts of the country. September 11 is a Friday, and the subsequent two days are bank holidays.

September 14 is a holiday in some states for Ganesh Chaturthi.

Meanwhile, most public sector banks have informed their customers of the likely impact of the strike on operations.

In an advisory to customers, SBI said, “We advise that while the bank has made all necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning of the branches and offices on the days of strike, it is likely that work in the Bank may be impacted by the strike”.

UFBU, an umbrella body of seven bank employees’ and officers’ unions, has also threatened a three-day subsequent nationwide strike beginning September 28, coinciding with the half-yearly closure.

The issue of five-day banking has been pending for a long time, and even during conciliation meetings before the Chief Labour Commissioner, the government could not give any commitment on the introduction of 5-day banking.

Hence, the agitation has been forced on the unions due to the actions of the government and management, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) general secretary Rupam Roy said.

“A 5-day working week is already followed by central and state government offices, the RBI, LIC, GIC, NABARD and several other institutions. The stock market, money market and foreign exchange market also function on a 5-day basis,” National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) general secretary L Chandrasekhar said.

The other residual demands, including updation and improvement of pension, a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to switch to the old pension scheme (OPS) also remained unresolved.