One million bank employees to go on two-day strike against Union Budget act of privatizing
United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), a nexus of the nine unions, has given a call for a two-day strike from March 15 to protest against the proposed privatization of two state-owned lenders. All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C H Venkatachalam. said, “The strike will go on for 2 continuous days on 15th and 16th March 2021.”
This strike is in the wake of the Union Budget presented in February, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who declared the privatization of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan.
During this strike, check withdrawals, services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, check clearances, and loan instruments worth Rs 16,500 crore will be held up:
The privatization of the banks has stirred much angst with the central government selling majority stakes, merging 14 public sector banks in the last four years.
While conciliation meetings were held with the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner on March 4, 9, and 10, they did not reach any conclusive positives and the bank unions are discontent with the decision of the central government.
The majority of banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), have informed their customers about the impact on the functioning of branches and offices during the strike and also the necessary steps they are taking for the smooth functioning of bank branches and offices on the days of the strikes.
Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI)
Others are the Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organization of Bank Workers (NOBW), and National Organization of Bank Officers (NOBO).
Many prominent people are raising their voices against privatizations and the common citizen is naturally very concerned stating, “If banks are privatized, there is no security for the middle-class people’s deposits, Service charges will be increased, interest rates increase on loans. There will be no jobs for the youth, that’s why we are supporting bank employees!”
Other people said that youth looking for jobs see government jobs as security for a more stable life and career, thus the public sector should be strengthened and not curtailed. Privatization isn’t the solution.
There is concern that with the complex demographics and population of India, privatization will only benefit a select few and millions will suffer joblessness and poverty, which is already being sinking in. The new capitalistic structure of the government is not looking promising for the worried multitudes.
SIDE EFFECTS OF PRIVATIZATION.#BankStrike #IndiaAgainstPrivatisation pic.twitter.com/jFToKGYXmJ
— Hansraj Meena (@HansrajMeena) March 15, 2021
Bank strike: Selling PSU banks to corporates ‘colossal mistake’, says Raghuram Rajan as workers plan strike.#IndiaAgainstPrivatisation https://t.co/yLrFrFIOSw
— Niraj Bhatia (@bhatia_niraj23) March 15, 2021