CLRD Bank officers to join nationwide strike on Aug 5

RANCHI: The Jharkhand state unit of All India Bank Officers' Confederation convened a meeting here on Thursday deciding to support and participate in the nationwide general strike of bank employees on August 5. The strike call has been given by the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella organization of all bank unions and associations, pressing for their 14-point demand.
The meeting was chaired by its Jharkhand unit president, Kalyan Chatterjee, who called upon the bank officers to actively participate in the agitation so that the Centre acknowledges the pressure being exerted by the officers organization in pursuance of their demands. The general secretary of the organization, D Sengupta, highlighted the demands already put forward by UFBU. He said the union is objecting to reduction of government equity and phased privatization of public sector banks.
"Neither the banks should be merged nor the government should issue a banking licence to independent houses," he said adding that the idea to outsource core banking solutions is also a step towards privatization of the banks. Stressing for more recruitment in the banking sector through banking service recruitment board (BSRB) the officers also have demanded five-day working and regulated working hours in the banks.
To create general awareness about the demands put forward by the bank officers, the confederation has planned a rally on August 2 at 5.30PM from Firayalal Chowk. Also, mass demonstration before the controlling branches has been planned on August 4, one day ahead of the national general strike. Attending the meet, Ranchi university professor Ramesh Sharan highlighted faulty economic policies of the Union government and laid stress over the fact that privatization of banks would lead to a loss of confidence on banks which can have cascading effects on the Indian economy in future.