Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (JD)
Udupi, Sep 12: Bank employees staged a protest in front of Canara Bank on Court Road here on Friday, September 11, demanding the immediate implementation of a five-day banking system and fulfilment of various other demands.
The protest was held under the leadership of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) as part of the nationwide bank strike called by the All India Bank Strike.
The protesters demanded the immediate implementation of a five-day working week in the banking sector. They also sought performance-based incentives on par with employees holding equivalent posts and grades across all banks, besides the immediate fulfilment of all pending assurances.
Speaking on the occasion, UFBU district convenor Nagesh Naik said it was unfortunate that employees were being pushed to extreme situations, including suicide, due to mounting work pressure.
“Bank employees are working under tremendous stress, but there seems to be no one to understand their difficulties. Frontline employees and officers serve customers every day, while senior officials sit in air-conditioned rooms without doing any work. Yet, huge incentives are being given to those who do not contribute, under the name of performance-linked incentives (PLI). This is an injustice to employees who are constantly engaged in customer service,” he alleged.
He further accused the government of adopting a discriminatory approach towards bank employees and said that it was necessary to fight against such disparities.
AIBeA’s Harish Shetty, AIBOC’s Sachin Shetty, NCBE’s Muralidhar and Supriya, AIBOA’s Ravi Shankar, INBOC’s Pramod Lanje, along with leaders Sudeep, Manoj Kumar, Ramesh Niranjan, Mario Mathias, Pranav Pai, Santosh, Manjunath, Sachin Chopper and Suraj were present.
“Nagesh Naik said employees are working under continuous stress and need two days of rest every week. The five-day banking system has been a long-standing demand of bank employees. If the demands are not addressed, we will be forced to intensify the agitation in the coming days,” he said.