The nation-wide strike call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) appeared complete in Dakshina Kannada with branches of all the nationalised banks remaining non-functional as even the head office of Corporation Bank here.
UFBU, the umbrella organisation of nine different Unions representing different cadres of employees of nationalised banks, had given the strike call following failure of negotiations with the Indian Banks’ Association on September 25. The Forum has been demanding ‘adequate’ wage revision, which is pending for seven years.
Vincent D’Souza, General Secretary of South Kanara Bank Employees’ Association told The Hindu that though the Forum had submitted the charter of demands to the IBA and the Finance Ministry in October 2012, the central government is yet to announce wage revision to the satisfaction of employees.
He said if the government does not announce the revision after the present strike, the Forum has decided to hold relay strikes from December 3 to December 5, starting from southern India region and ending with eastern India region. If the government still remains adamant, the Forum would not hesitate to go on indefinite strike, date for which is yet to be decided, he said.
Branches of private sector banks, however, functioned normally in the district, even as employees of nationalised banks held demonstrations in front of their branches pressing for their demands. Addressing members of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation here last month, its president Y. Sudarshan had regretted that the managements treated employees as a “liability” when it came to wage revision, while for the rest of operations including participation in national campaigns, they were treated as assets.
Pushed to strike
Resorting to strike was the last resort as employees did not want to inconvenience the public and it was the government that had pushed the employees into the strike, he said last month.
Udupi Special Correspondent writes:
Banking services in Udupi district were affected on Wednesday by the one-day country-wide strike by bank employee unions. Members of UFBU staged a dharna in front of the Catholic Centre branch of Syndicate Bank and shouted slogans in support of their demands.
