New Delhi, April 5
Hundreds of SBI customers unable to withdraw their salaries for the past three days are cursing their luck for opening account with the bank , while talks between the government and SBI unions broke down today. The strike is set to enter its fourth day tomorrow.
Some of the employees facing a cash crunch said that “they have been forced to take loans on hefty interest to pay their house rent and to deposit school fee of their children.”
With over 2.10 lakh employees of the SBI in 9000 banks on strike, customers are facing a tough
time. The bank handles 25-30 million transactions a day.
The Central Labour Commissioner today convened a tripartite meeting here with representative from the Centre, the bank management and the SBI Employees and Officers Union , but without any result.
Mr T.N. Goel, Vice-President, All- India State Bank of India Officers’ Association told The Tribune, “our strike will continue as the government has declined to come up with any comprising formula. After studying all the papers regarding notice of strike, the Delhi High Court has also asked both parties to settle the matter by April 18, or it will hear the matter on April 19.”
The government had taken the plea , he said, that it would study the court judgement, and “ we have no option but to continue the strike. On harassment of customers, he said: “We have waited for 14 years, now it is up to the government to address the issue.”
A spokesman of the All-India State Bank Officers’ Federation (AISBOF) and All-India State Bank of India Staff Federation (AISBISF) said, “ no concrete proposal was offered, but they asked to withdraw the strike unconditionally.”
SBI Chairman, AK Purwar, said, the bank management had been in talks with the employees to end the strike. “It has affected banking operations and we are trying to find a solution.”
The employees are protesting against the discrepancy in their pension scales compared with other public sector banks. For the SBI, the ceiling for pension is fixed at Rs 5,600 per month while for the rest of the banking industry it is 50 per cent of the last pay received. There are also discrepancies in the gratuity scheme. Union leaders feel the government has neglected this issue for 14 years.
The government has taken a hardline approach. It is unwilling to accept the demand for a higher pension and has not set a date for any discussion or counter offer on the issue, even as the unions expressed keenness to negotiate.
At this point it appears that the government is trying to postpone resolution of the issue due to elections in four states and the fact that the SBI chairman’s tenure is coming to an end in May.
