Services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals would be affected.
UFBU, an umbrella body of nine unions, in a statement claimed that about 10 lakh bank employees and officers of the banks will participate in the strike.
Public sector lenders, including State Bank of India (
) have informed their customers that their normal working could be affected if the strike materialises.
Services at private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank are likely to remain unaffected by the strike.
The strike comes after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget announcement where she announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (apart from
Bank) as part of the government’s disinvestment drive to generate Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
Niti Aayog has kept public sector banks that were part of the last round of consolidation, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank, Canara Bank and Indian Bank, and Bank of Baroda and State Bank India out of the privatisation plan.
Conciliation meetings – before the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner on March 4, 9 and 10 – did not yield any positive result, so the strike stands, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.
Apart from bank unions, all the unions in four General Insurance Companies will be on strike on March 17. All the unions in LIC are on strike on March 18, while unions of four insurance companies have called for a strike against the privatisation of public companies.
