PNB Employees to strike work on March 7

Kochi: Punjab National Bank Employees Union (PNBEU) on Thursday said it will join the all India strike called by its federation on March 7 in protest against the management's move to enter market with second public offering of 80 million shares.

PNBEU Kerala chapter general secretary Varghese Raju told reporters that the decision to join the all India strike was taken in the backdrop of a resolution passed at the meeting of the All India Bank Employees Association at Hyderabad and ratified by the Punjab National Bank Employees Federation to boycott the banking operations whenever the management goes for public issues.

Describing the move as 'anti-worker'' and against the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme, he said the management's decision to go public on March 7 shedding 23 per cent more shares would lead to large scale retrenchment in the banking sector and against the interests of the common man.

The United Forum of Bank Unions comprised nine all-India level Bank Unions. These are All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC), Indian National Bank Employees Congress (INBEC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and Confederaiton of Bank Employees (NCBE) which also had given a call for an all India strike on March 22 against the government's move to encourage mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry.