All business and commercial activities across the
country are likely to be crippled as the entire banking industry
employees would go on a two-day strike starting Wednesday, a banking
union official said here Monday.
Over a million employees and
officers of 27 public sector banks, 12 old generation private banks and
eight foreign banks will take part in the strike, said All India Bank
Employees Association secretary Vishwas Utagi.
Among other
things, they will protest the government's move to amend the banking
laws bill, presently pending before parliament and scheduled for
discussions Aug 23 and 24, Utagi said in a statement here.
"The
proposed banking law amendments proposing to adversely amend the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949, and Banking Companies' Acquisition & Transfer
of Undertakings Act, aimed at merger of banks, allowing private and
foreign capital in banks, unrestricted voting rights and granting
licences to corporate business houses to start new banks, are aimed at
handing over the Indian private sector banking to multi-national banks
and increasing the presence of Indian corporate and foreign direct
investment in public sector banks," Utagi said.
The outcome of
these proposed measures would be closure of rural bank branches,
resorting to a large number of ultra-small branches, thereby privatising
rural banking operations through contractual businesses, he claimed.
The
strike would also oppose outsourcing of work to outside agencies, and
other "anti-labour" policies, jeopardising jobs in the banking sector
and aimed at undermining the collective bargaining strength.
During the strike, bank employees here will take out a procession to Azad Maidan in support of their demands, he added.
