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Bank strike continues for second day

Banking and related activities such as the money markets were paralysed for the second day as the bank strike called by major unions was near total on Friday and most of the branches remained completely shut. The bank strike began on Thursday.

However, employees of the Reserve Bank of India resumed their duties on Friday since they had joined the strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions only for a day. Despite normal functioning of the RBI, cheque clearances remained affected since few transactions took place in the branches.

Assistant secretary of the Delhi State Bank Employees Federation Ashok Gupta claimed most of the branches in the capital did not even open because both officers and the clerical staff were participating in the strike. Only branches headed by assistant general managers remained open without conducting any business.

The strike was joined by the foreign, private, cooperative and regional rural banks. The various unions' demands include withdrawing the scheme of the local area private banks, restrictions on the non-banking finance companies, lifting of ban on recruitment and compassionate appointments, introduction of wage revision and pensions in regional rural and cooperative banks, removal of ceiling from bonus and gratuity, and withdrawal of illegal clause in pension regulation denying benefits to the employees for participation in strikes.

In Bombay, work in the newly set up private banks, foreign banks, and in the Reserve Bank of India branches was nearly normal with good attendance of staff members.

According to RBI sources, about 50 out of 112 member banks on Friday participated in the cheque clearing process, posting a transaction worth Rs 3 billion, about one-third volume of a normal day clearing.

In Madras, unlike Thursday, normal function of the RBI was affected on Friday because Class IV employees went on strike in support of the striking bankers.

In Bombay, workers held demonstration before their respective banks branches.

A RBI spokesperson said while the clearing houses at Bombay, Bangalore, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram reported meagre to partial participation by commercial banks, the clearing houses at other centres did not function because of non-participation of the member banks.

Chief executive of the Indian Banks Association M N Dandekar said that the situation in the banking industry remained unaltered with an aggregate of about 15 per cent of the total employees fed-up with the repeated calls for strike, he added.

Meanwhile, trade bodies and depositors associations have expressed their total disapproval of such strikes called by the unions so frequently without any substantive issues.

UNI