SBI workers open to talks with Centre

Employees will hold protests before SBI offices as the strike enters the 6th day.

Even as the indefinite strike by 2.10 lakh employees and officers of State Bank of India (SBI) entered the sixth day on Saturday, the SBI Officers Association announced it was ready to hold a dialogue with the Centre on the pension issue.

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SBI Officers Staff Association Deputy General Secretary PKV Rangacharulu said in Vijaywada if the Centre took the initiative and called for talks, the employees and officers federations had no objection to discussing the issue.

He said employees would hold demonstrations in front of SBI offices on Saturday in support of their demand.

Rejecting Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Bank Chairman K Purwar's appeal to call off the strike, he said the Centre should accept the demand on pension revision, which had not been done for 14 years.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) had decided to hold a protest march to Parliament on April 10 to extend support to the SBI employees strike.