Bank staff strike against merger

Karimnagar: More than 1,500 employees working in various banks in the united Karimnagar district observed strike on Wednesday following the call given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) in protest against the merger of banks.

It is to be noted here that this is the second strike in less than a week observed by the bank employees due to nation-wide strike call given by UFBU to protest the proposed amalgamation of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda to reduce their bad loans.

The UFBU is an association of nine unions, including All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) with more than 10 lakh members of officers and staff of various banks.

Speaking on the occasion, Zonal Secretary of Andhra Bank Officers Federation (ABOF) T Raj Kumar said that more than 1,500 bank employees in the united Karimnagar district were on strike opposing the Central government’s move of banks merger.

Banking density in India is one of the lowest in the world. The merger or amalgamation of banks to consolidate the sector is unnecessary and illogical. “What we need is expansion of banking sector but not amalgamation and consolidation,” he said.

ABOF regional secretary Vamshi Krishna, Venkatesh, Bhimla, Veerabhadra Rao, Abhilash, Md Riaz, Sampath, Venkatesh, Kavitha, Srinivas, Laksminarayana, Prameela and Sagar along with others participated in the strike. However, branches of new generation private sector banks have functioned as usual in the district.