The State Sector Bank Employees Association (SSBEA), consisting of employees belonging to five associate banks of SBI, will go on strike on December 1 and 2. The SSBEA includes unions in the associate banks comprising State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala.
The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) will strike work across the country on December 2 to extend support to the stir. The employees have threatened to launch an indefinite strike by December end. The strike is in protest against the move to implement SBI’s Career Progression Policy on Associate Banks. The SBI management has issued directions to all associate bank managements to adopt the policy at the director board meetings. The associate banks have their director board meetings scheduled from October 26 to 31, a source in the banking industry told The Hindu .
“Reforms are generally introduced as per agreements signed between employees’ associations and managements at the Indian Banks Association (IBA) level. The new unilateral move has resulted in grave apprehensions among bank employees, K.S. Krishna, general secretary, SBT Employees’ Union, told T he Hindu .
The union has been demanding delinking of SBT from SBI. In SBI, there is a separate career progression policy which provides for enhanced ‘passing powers,’ higher level of duties, more working hours and some additional financial benefits. The SBI management is trying to make the new policy a precondition for discussions on SSBEA demands, AIBEA leaders said.
