Banks to go on a two-day strike this month against privatisation plans

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has decided to go on a strike against the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that will be brought up this winter session. The two-day strike from December 16-18 is scheduled to be 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, PTI reported.

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".

BKU leader, Rakesh Tikait took to twitter stating how they had alerted citizens that the next target would be banks. “See the result, on December 6, the bill for privatiSation of public sector banks is going to be presented in the Parliament. There is a need for a common movement across the country against privatization,” he tweeted.

Hansraj Meena, a political activist also came in support of the bank unions and tweeted, “I stand with bankers. Government should listen to bankers and consider their demands.”

Members of UFBU include 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).

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).

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