Court Restrains Bank Staff From Going On Strike

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday restrained a section of public sector bank employees from going on strike from the next day to protest against the proposed merger of State Bank of India associates and privatisation of IDBI Bank.

Justice V K Rao, who passed the order on a plea of State Bank of Patiala and four other subsidiary banks of the State Bank of India (SBI), restrained State Sector Bank Employees Association (SSBEA) and All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) from proceeding ahead with the two-day strike.

"Respondents are restrained from resorting to any form of strike and/or from preventing or calculating to prevent the normal business of banking of the petitioner banks and/or restraining them from preventing, obstructing and hindering the customers and visitors of the bank, from ingress and egress out of all office/branch premises of the petitioner bank, throughout the country till the next date of hearing," the court said.

It listed the matter for further hearing on July 20.

A section of public sector bank employees have threatened to go on a nationwide strike beginning Tuesday to protest against the proposed merger of SBI associates as well as the move to privatise IDBI Bank.

The five associate lenders of SBI are State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad.

"As the conciliation meeting with the Chief Labour Commissioner failed, we would continue with our strike call," AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam had said last week.

The strike would be observed by these associate banks on Tuesday, followed by other public sector banks on July 13.

Many banks including Bank of Baroda, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Mysore have already informed that if strike materialised, it could lead to inconvenience to their customers.