SBI urges staff to refrain from participating in bank strike on December 16-17

The State Bank of India (SBI) has requested its staff to refrain from participating in the two-day strike, called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), on December 16-17. SBI said going on strike would not be in the interest of its customers, investors and the bank itself.

In a message shared on Twitter, SBI said that resorting to a strike will cause great inconvenience to the stakeholders amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

"We request our staff members to reconsider their decision and refrain from participating in the proposed strike on 16th and 17th December 2021 in the interest of our customers, investors and the Bank," read the message shared by SBI.

An appeal to all Bank Staff. pic.twitter.com/EZFGpfnK0a

— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) December 13, 2021

Earlier on Friday, SBI had said that it had made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning at its branches during the two-day strike. It added that it was likely that the work at the bank would be impacted by the strike.

Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda also said on Twitter that its management has talked to all the bank level units of the unions which had called for the strike, and has requested them to call it off in order to avoid large scale disruptions of banking operations.

Bank of Baroda stated that it is making all efforts to avoid customer inconvenience on account of the strike. It added that the bank's digital channels are always available for its customers irrespective of the strike.

(2/2) to call off their strike to avoid large scale disruption to Banking operations. From the Bank's side, we are making all efforts to avoid customer inconvenience on account of the strike. Our Digital channels are always available for our customers irrespective of the Strike.

— Bank of Baroda (@bankofbaroda) December 13, 2021

On December 6, UFBU had decided to go on strike against the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which will be taken up by the Parliament in the ongoing Winter Session.

The two-day strike is being organised to protest against the government's plan to privatise public sector banks.

Sanjay Das, general secretary of All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), said that privatising PSBs will hurt the priority sectors of the economy and also credit flow to self-help groups and to the rural economy, according to news agency PTI.

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said that for the past 25 years, under the banner of UFBU "we have been opposing the policies of banking reforms which are aimed at weakening public sector banks".

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI) are among the members of UFBU.

Other associations are the Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organization of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organization of Bank Officers (NOBO).

Also Read: Bank strike on 16 & 17 Dec likely to impact normal functioning: SBI