Bank employees staged a demonstration in front of Union Bank of India’s regional office at Vannarpet in Palayamkottai on Tuesday to press for their demands, including filling of the 2 lakh-odd vacancies in nationalised banks and 5-days work per week.
The protesters said the delay in filling-up the 2 lakh-odd vacancies in the banking sector had seriously affected its smooth functioning. In other words, the service being rendered by the banks to the public had become awkward as the Union Government was delaying the filling-up of the vacancies. At the same time, outsourcing of banking operations had moved to top gear and it might lead to privatisation of more banks in near future.
To mitigate this situation, recruitment of new employees should be started immediately while the temporary staff in the banks should be made permanent. The unresolved disputes pertaining to the salary should be sorted out immediately through bilateral talks. Since incidents of attacks on the bank employees by the goons is on the rise, armed guards should be deployed in all the banks.
Besides increasing the gratuity to ₹25 lakh, the Union Government should give tax exemption to this amount. Old pension scheme should be revived, the protestors said.
“Since the Union Government is still silent on our demands, we’ve planned to strike work on March 24 and 25,” they said.
Thoothukudi district president of All India Bank Employees’ Association Manikandan presided over the agitation in which office-bearers of various unions including Thilagar, Rengan, Sivashankar and Paul Robert spoke.
Published - March 11, 2025 08:51 pm IST
