Other bank employees threaten to join strike

If the issue is not resolved by Monday, staff of other banks will join the strike and halt the entire banking system.

The All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), representing public sector banks, has threatened to join the ongoing strike of the State Bank of India (SBI) employees if the latter's pension demand is not resolved soon.

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To express solidarity with the striking SBI employees and extend support to their genuine demands, the confederation's working committee would meet in Mumbai on Monday to decide on when to join the strike, AIBOC general secretary Shantha Raju told reporters.

"We hope better sense will prevail with the SBI management as well as the government to respond positively to the employees' revised proposal on the pension issue.

"If the issue is not resolved by Monday, employees of other public sector banks will join the SBI employees and bring the entire banking system to a grinding halt across the country next week," Raju said.

The United Forum of Bank Unions, the apex body of nine unions in the banking sector with about one million members, including officers and employees of state-run banks, will also hold an emergent meeting in Chennai on April 11 to chalk out an action programme in support of the SBI employees strike and put pressure on the government to end the stalemate.

"As the custodian of the largest bank in the country, the ball is in the government's court. The pension issue has been pending with the SBI management since 1997. In spite of repeated discussions and reminders, neither the management nor the government had bothered to address the concerns of the employees," Raju said.