TRADE UNIONS GO FOR TWO-DAY BANDH
LUCKNOW: Employees of some public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India went on a two-day strike across the state on Tuesday in response to a call for a nationwide stir by 10 central trade unions to protest against alleged antiworker policies of the central government.
In Lucknow, there was a mixed response to the strike call given by the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and the Bank Employees’ Federation of India (BEFI). The employees are protesting against the plan to merge some public sector banks.
Work was affected in branches of the Vijaya Bank, the Bank of Baroda, the Dena Bank and the Allahabad Bank in the state capital.
Some bank employees, who refused to be named, said, “The banks are being merged because of the inefficiency of the government, not because of bank employees. The banking sector is passing through the worst phase. Regular and permanent jobs are being replaced by casual, temporary, contractual and fixed-term ones. Bank employees are suffering as this sector has seen its fall from a job-oriented sector to jobless growth and then to a sector of job losses.”
Bank employees had also observed strike on December 21 and December 26 over the demand for wage revision and cancelling the bank merger plan. The three days of strike in quick succession had hit banking services across the country.
The All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA), the General Insurance Employees’ All India Association (GIEAIA) and the All India LIC Employees Federation ( AILICEF) joined the BEFI in the protest. Working in the Hazratganj branch of the LIC in Lucknow was affected.An office bearer of the Insurance Employees’ Association said, “The government is denying wage revision to insurance sector employees despite their good performance. The government is also not allowing one more option for pension to insurance employees who are left out of the pension scheme.”
In Varanasi, too, employees of different nationalised banks remained on strike under the banner of UP Bank Employees’ Union (UPBEA).
A press communiqué from UP Bank Employees’ Union stated that around 18,000 cheques and
bank drafts could not be cleared in Varanasi owing to the strike and also virtual business to the tune of Rs 600 crore was hit in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
LIC employees staged a demonstration to press for their demands, including fresh recruitment in the corporation.
They also said Rs 18,000 should be fixed as minimum monthly
wage and the government should hold a dialogue with them for revision of their wages. LIC employees in Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Ballia and Sonbhadra remained on strike too. In Prayagraj, members of trade unions associated with various government departments on Tuesday joined the nationwide strike.