On 30 August, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the amalgamation of ten public sector banks into four big banks.
Banking services across India were partially disrupted on Tuesday after two bank unions announced a 24-hour-long strike in protest against the Central government's decision to merge ten public sector banks into four bigger banks.
The plan to merge banks was one of several measures undertaken by the Central government to revive economic growth which has been on the lower side for the last five years.
The announcement, once implemented, will bring down the number of such banks from 27 in 2017 to 12 in 2019.
The All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) and the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) are the two unions leading the protest against the recent merger of banks, falling deposit rates and the lack of job security, media reports said.
About 350,000 employees affiliated to these two unions (AIBEA and BEFI) are taking part in the strike.
The bank unions decided to go ahead with their strike after talks with the Chief Labour Commissioner of the Indian Ministry of Labour had failed on Monday.
"IBA (Indian Bank Association) appealed to us not to go ahead with the strike, but could not come out to resolve any of the demands raised by us. AIBEA General Secretary Venkatachalam told media on Monday:
"We made a detailed written submission about the justification for our strike call. In the absence of any positive outcome in the meeting, it was decided to go ahead with the strike," he added.
Today's #BankStrike called by Left Workers Union AIBEA & BEFI leaded by Retired bankers CHV (75 Yrs.) & Associates Tiwari (90Yrs.)
— Newton Bank Kumar (@idesibanda) October 22, 2019
Such leaders had destroyed the spirit of Union & banking. Selfish leaders holding posts even after retirement.
Bankers oppose such unions leaders. pic.twitter.com/Y6bIKlqA4U
