Banks across India will remain closed for four consecutive days (September 26 to September 29) due to 2-day strike by bank unions and holidays.
Four bank unions earlier threatened to go on a two-day strike from September 26 to protest against the government decision to reduce 10 state-run banks to four through mergers.
Due to strikes and holidays, several banks across the country will remain closed from September 26 to September 29, which can affect customers’ regular banking services.
September 28 will be the last Saturday of the month and September 29 is a Sunday, and hence banks will be closed on those two days.
The four banking unions – All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) – have called for a strike following the recent government announcement on consolidation of 10 public sector banks into four.
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In a letter to the Chairman, Indian Banks’ Association, signed by the General Secretaries of the four organisations, on Thursday, the unions said: “In accordance with the provisions contained in sub-section (1) of Section 22 of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947, we hereby give you notice that 4 Officers’ Trade Union Organizations as stated above, propose to go on continuous strike from midnight of 25th September to midnight of 27th September 2019 and indefinite strike from the second week of November 2019.”
“We strongly oppose and protest the government’s move of merger/consolidation of public sector banks. Just adding two balance sheets will not make a resultant balance sheet stronger,” they said in their strike notice.
After the merger, the number of state-run banks will come down from 27 to only 12.
With inputs from IANS
