Thousands of employees failed to withdraw salaries as it was the first working day of the month, following half working day on Saturday and Sunday.Meanwhile, SBI unions claimed that about 2.5 lakh employees, including officers, joined the strike at 9,000 branches across the country.
The strike comes in the wake of the government’s failure to address the long-pending issue of pension scheme, awaiting revision for the past 14 years. The union’s talk with the Chief Labour Commissioner in Delhi on April 1 had also failed.
According to bank sources, while pension was revised and updated in the case of several associate banks of the SBI, it was not undertaken for the SBI employees.
In response to a call given by the joint action committee (JAC) comprising All-India State Bank Officers Federation (AISBOF) and All-India State Bank of India Staff Federation (AISBISF), the workers and officers across the country went on protest. Mr V.K. Gupta, general secretary, SBISA ( Delhi circle), said, “Following the failure of talks, we have asked our members to keep themselves ready for the indefinite strike.”
In the Capital, the stir paralysed work in 220 branches, even as Union Minister of State for Labour Chandrasekhar Sahu renewed his appeal to call off the protest.
But employees, including officers, said the strike would continue till the demand for increase in pension was
met.
