Over 700 banks shut as strike enters second day

Coimbatore: More than 700 branches of public and private sector banks remained closed on Saturday as the strike by bank employees demanding the central government to fulfil their demands entered into second day. More than 5,000 employees from 20 public sector banks and 22 private banks participated in the strike.
R Maheswaran, district general secretary, Bank Employees’ Federation of India, said, “Unlike other central government departments, we work six days every alternative week. Each day, we work for 11 to 12 hours. We have been undergoing tremendous pressure due to unregulated working hours and it is affecting our performance.”
He wondered whether it was too much to ask for regulated working hours and 5 working days a week that were already implemented in other central government departments.
The employees, he said, had long been also demanding the central government to scrape the new pension scheme, update the pension and family pension and allocate the staff welfare fund based on operating profit instead of net profit, but in vain.
Pointing out that public sector banks were offering the companies that create employment opportunities low interest rates, no service charge and no processing charge, Maheswaran said that would have an impact on the net profit of banks. “That’s why we have been demanding the government to allocate the staff welfare fund based on operating profit of the banks.”
The employees also want the government to revise their wages. While their demand is 20% hike, the government has expressed willingness to increase the wages up to 13.5%. During the recent talk that was held with the employees, officials had promised to recommend their demands to update family pension to the government, he said.
Bank Employees’ Federation of India has decided to stage a three-day bank strike from March 11, to press their demands.