Bank strike: Several banks across the country will be shut on September 26 (Thursday) and September 27 (Friday) on account of a two-day strike by public sector bank unions. This would be followed by the weekend off - September 28 is the last Saturday of the month and September 29 is a Sunday.
The bank ATMs may also run dry during the strike as they are mostly re-filled under the bank officers' supervision which is unlikely during the said period, All India Bank Officers' Confederation's (AIBOC) R Sekaran told the Times of India.
Operations of around 2.12 lakh ATMs and transactions worth Rs 48,000 are likely to be impacted across the country, the report said.
Also Read: Bank strike: Four unions threaten nationwide strike against mergers from Sept 26
Four bank unions have threatened to go on a two-day strike on September 26 and September 27 to protest against the consolidation of 10 state-run banks into four. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had announced this consolidation on August 30.
The government's move is aimed at transforming state-owned lenders into global-sized banks.
The unions are also demanding a revision in the employees' wages as well as a hike in their pensions.
Also Read: Bank unions threaten 2-day strike from September 26
While, it is true that the four unions namely, All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC) will participate in the two-day strike (September 26-27), the State Bank of India (SBI) had last week enunciated in a regulatory filing that it has made all necessary arrangement to ensure normal functioning across its branches and offices.
"While the bank has made all arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted to some extent by the strike," SBI said in its filing.
Bank of India too stated in a filing that it is ensuring all requisite steps to ensure "smooth functioning of bank's branches/offices on the day of strike."
Besides, the strike is only by public sector bank unions. All other banks (cooperative, private and rural) will go about their business as usual during the said period.
Meanwhile, the ordeal for the bank customers may not yet be over as the unions have also threatened indefinite strike from the second of November if the government doesn't agree to their demands.
Also Read: Bank employee association protests against Centre's decision to merge PSU banks