Tripartite talks involving Indian Bank Association and bank unions to avert nationwide strike on Friday have failed.
Banking services are likely to be hit hard on Friday as the United Forum of Bank Unions, an umbrella of nine unions, have called a strike to oppose outsourcing, privatisation and the proposed increase in voting rights of foreign investors in private banks.
The strike, was announced after the conciliation meeting held on October 18 by chief labour commissioner with the Unions and Indian Banks Association, did not yield any result.
The United Forum of Bank Unions blamed the casual approach of the government and IBA for the failure of the meeting, in which UFBU had also demanded fresh recruitments, restoration of compassionate appointments and one more option to join pension scheme.
"If the government and the IBA continue to adopt their ostrich-like policy and not come forward to resolve the issues by meaningful discussions, the agitation will be further intensified into more strike actions in the banks," UFBU general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.
The strike is likely to impact public sector banks severely, who dominate the banking space, with biggies like State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank employees participating in the strike.
UFBU comprises of All India Bank Employees Association, (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), Indian National Bank Employees Congress (INBEC), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).
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