The all-India public sector bank strike on Wednesday saw “100% participation” and would have affected the processing of about 30 lakh cheques worth ₹23 lakh crore, according to bank unions leading the strike to protest the merger of Dena Bank, Bank of Baroda and Vijaya Bank.
“The response to the strike has been very enthusiastic,” C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees’ Association, told the media on Wednesday.
“Reports reaching us from all States suggest that the strike has been successful. Clearing operations will be affected today [Wednesday] because branches are closed and cheques cannot be sent for clearance,” he added,
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“About 30 lakh cheques worth ₹23 lakh crore will be held up without clearance due to the strike,” Mr. Venkatachalam said.
The call for the strike was issued by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body comprising nine unions including the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).
“Today [December 26], the functioning of the entire public sector banking was halted due to 100% participation of employees and officers in the nationwide strike,” UFBU said in a statement. “Employees and officers from old generation private sector banks and employees from some of the foreign banks also were on strike. Strike was total and shutters of almost all banks were down.”
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Public sector banks contacted by The Hindu declined to comment on the business impact of the strike, saying instead that the relevant departments tasked with compiling this data would take some time to do so.
“There hasn’t been that much of an impact in PNB,” an official in the Punjab National Bank told The Hindu . “This is because employees are divided into two types of associations. One does the strike and the other does not. The one that doesn’t, they come to the bank and work normally. I am in office today. But one thumb rule to follow is that if State Bank of India employees are on strike, then banking operations across the country will naturally get affected.”
The unions feel the merger; have been protesting the merger of the three banks because they feel this would result in the closure of a number of branches and the loss of employment of thousands of employees.
“Already we have the experience of the merger of six associate banks with State Bank of India in April 2017,” Mr. Venkatachalam said. “After that merger, SBI has closed down 6,950 branches according to the written reply given in Parliament on December 21, 2018 by Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance.”
He said the three banks that were to be merged have a total of 9,000 branches and that “it is certain that thousands of branches will be closed after the proposed merger”.