Banking services in Maharashtra hit as 40,000 bank employees, officers join two-day strike

Bank employees protest during the two-day nationwide strike, called by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) at Connaught Place in New Delhi, Monday, March 15, 2021. Pic: PTI

Banking services in the state got affected on Monday as around 40,000 bank employees and officers have gone on a two-day strike to protest against the government's decision to privatise two more state-run banks.

Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government's disinvestment plan in the Union Budget for the next fiscal.

The pan-India strike on March 15-16 has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions. It has claimed that about 10 lakh bank employees and officers of the banks are participating in the strike.

UFBU's Maharashtra Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar in a statement said that about 40,000 bank employees and officers working in about 10,000 bank branches across the state have joined the nationwide strike.

State-run lenders, including Central Bank of India among others have informed their customers to use their digital channels like internet or mobile banking, ATMS services for making transactions during the two-day strike.

Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI).

Others are Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).