AIBEA Calls Off Bank Strike After High Court Move

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Mumbai/Kolkata, September 30:: Bank customers can heave a sigh of relief. The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), representing 50 per cent of the bank employees, has withdrawn its proposed strike slated for Tuesday (October 1, 2002). This follows the move of the Bombay High Court Division Bench directing the Centre to appoint a tribunal to deal with the abrupt closure of the Kolkata branch of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM), which displaced 47 employees and 20 officers.

The division bench of the HC comprising of Justice Lodha and Justice Bhasle, dealing with the interim injunction sought by the bank against the October 1 strike, referred the case for industrial adjudication under section 10A of the Industrial Disputes Act (ID Act).

Had it not been for the HC move, operations in the banking sector would have been paralysed for four consecutive days starting from Sunday till Wednesday.

On Monday, bank branches were closed for public transaction — it being the day for half-yearly closure of bank accounts. Wednesday is a bank holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti.

“In the wake of the HC decision to refer the case to Centre, the proposed strike has been withdrawn,” AIBEA president, Suresh Dhopeshwarkar, told FE on Monday.

The division bench has asked the Centre to make a three-point reference to the tribunal to be appointed in three weeks. These reference points are on whether the closure of the bank was unjustified and illegal; whether the removal of the employees was unjustified and illegal; and if so, whether the employees are entitled to be reinstated, AIBEA sources said.

Earlier, the AIBEA has called for a one-day strike on Tuesday to be observed in four metros — Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata — in protest against the closure of the Kolkata branch on August 6, 2002.

AIBEA said that the bank has closed the branch in violation of binding provisions of the Sastry Award, which governs service conditions of bank employees since 1953. By this action, the foreign bank management has arbitrarily terminated the services of 67 of its employees, including 20 officers. The bank’s action was also against the provisions of the ID Act, AIBEA had claimed.

The Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), Kolkata, had earlier directed the Japanese bank management to restore and maintain the status quo, that it reopen the Kolkata branch, based on the dispute filed by the Bengal Provincial Bank Employees Association, an affiliate of AIBEA.