Today, bank employees’ unions called for a two-day bank strike all our country on 31st January and 1st February 2020 After talking with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) failed for wage revision. In January this is going to be second bank strike, the first one was on 8th January on Bharat Band.
This Bank strike will coincide with the Budget day. The Economic Survey will be presented on January 31 while on February 1 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget. As it is the First Saturday on February, all commercial banks are supposed to be open on the Budget day. For budget, Stock exchanges also decided to remain open on that day.
Representatives of 9 constituents of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) held a bipartite talks on Monday with the IBA in which several wage-related demands were turned down. Bank unions have demanded a 20% hike on payslip components, merger of special allowance with basic pay and a uniform 5-day work week. Other demands include scrapping of New Pension Scheme, improvement in family pension and defined working hours for officers.
“After discussing the financial offers of IBA amongst the constituents, UFBU expressed its inability to accept the same. Thereafter UFBU meeting was held as scheduled and decisions were taken to launch agitations and Strike actions,” UFBU general secretary Debasish Basu Chaudhury said.
UFBU, which represents nine trade unions, has tried to threatened to have another three-day strike from March 11-13, which will be followed by undefined strike from April 1 if they didn’t get their demands fulfilled.
Apart from the wage revision issue, the bank union is also against Narendra Modi government for merging several PSU banks. The January 8 bank strike was successful in several parts of the country as scores of bank employees abstained from work.