The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) today said that it will participate in the general strike called by central trade unions on September 7 to protest against price-rise and other issues.
"The AIBEA has decided to participate in the general strike on September 7. We served a strike call notice to the chief labour commissioner in Delhi last week," AIBEA secretary, Vishwas Utagi, said at Mumbai.
The AIBEA has also conveyed its decision to the Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), Utagi said.
Eight central trade unions—INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, AIICCTU, TUCC and LPF after a convention held in New Delhi last month called for general strike on September 7 to protest "price rise, disinvestment in public sector banks, huge job losses, rampant violation of labour laws and lack of adequate protection to workers in the unorganised sector."
AIBEA claims representation of around 9 lakh bank employees across the sector.
There are 27 PSU banks, 18 private banks, 82 regional rural banks and 16 foreign banks in the country, besides around 2,100 co-operative banks.
"The alarming price rise in essential commodities and food items has become a serious issue since it affects the working-class and the common man in a big way. On the other hand, the government decision to liberalise and de-regulate petrol and diesel prices and link it with international oil prices will further aggravate the price rise. We are totally opposed to it," Utagi said.
He further alleged that the government was attempting to hive-off its equity in PSU banks to private hands and also that permanent jobs in the banking sector were being outsourced.
The strike call is also aimed at drawing the government's attention towards providing job protection to around 43 crore workers in the unorganised sector whose jobs are always at the mercy of their employers, he said.
