Bank strike hits operations in Telangana

Customers of public sector banks (PSBs) were impacted the most on Tuesday as thousands of employees and officers of the PSBs across Telangana participated in a one-day all-India strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

Though the branches were open, customers faced challenges in transacting business as staffers, barring a handful in senior supervisory levels, were part of the UFBU strike demanding implementation of a five-day work week. While alternative channels such as ATMs and internet banking continue to grow in usage and popularity, branch level banking for many customers remain important. It includes depositing cheques, cash deposits and withdrawals as well as seeking information regarding various products, especially loans.

Veteran leader of Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) P.Venkataramaiah said the strike was total and saw the participation of a large number of employees of regional rural banks besides those of PSBs. BEFI is one of the nine unions that make up UFBU.

Hyderabad and several cities saw gathering of the bank staffers, as part of the strike, and call to the government to implement the five-day work week as it has been a few years since Indian Banks’ Association had agreed to the demand of UFBU to declare all Saturdays, in a month, as holidays. At present, banks are closed on second and fourth Saturdays.

For the customers, the strike meant no access to branch level services for four days as banks were closed on January 24 on account of fourth Saturday, January 25 being a Sunday and January 26 for Republic Day.