Bank unions to march to Parliament on Sept 15
Around 40,000 employees and officers from Maharashtra participated in the day-long strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Tuesday. This protest was mainly due to three reasons— privatisations, merger/consolidation and demanding tough measures against big corporate loan defaulters.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, UFBU, convenor, Devidas Tuljapurkar said, “When we approached Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) with our demands, they informed us that there is nothing they can do. It is in the hands of the government.” He also added that the government has been maintaining silence in the whole issue.
The second part of the protest is on September 15, with ‘March to Parliament’ which will be followed by two-days strike in the last week of October or first week of November. “We to have sort an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (on September 15),” he added. The union has decided to approach PM as there have been no response from the finance ministry.
He further stressed that various government initiatives are not working in the favour of banks or the customers. “The way banking system is working there will be a huge problem,” Tuljapurkar added. According to the union, the decline in saving interest rates and increase in service tax is a result of this government endeavour.
Over 10 lakh officers from across the country participated in Tuesday’s strike representing 22 public sector banks, 4 old generation private sector banks and 2 regional rural banks. Over 1 lakh officers are expected to participate in the New Delhi March.