Banking operations of state-run IDBI Bank across the country are likely to come to a halt on Friday as its officers and employees’ unions, opposing the Centre’s move to dilute stake in the lender, have decided to go on with the strike call after talks with the bank management failed.
Union sources said a total of 33,000 direct and indirect employees working in the bank may participate in the strike. The lender has over 1700 branches across the country.
The government has said work is on to reduce its stake in the Mumbai-headquartered bank and that it would consider transforming the bank in a manner similar to the Axis Bank. To protest “the contemplated move of the government to privatise IDBI Bank by diluting its shareholding to below 51%”, United Forum of IDBI Officers and Employees and All India Federation of IDBI Bank Ltd Employees gave a ‘nationwide’ strike call on November 27 one month ago.
United Forum sources said the conciliation proceedings to avert the strike by the Assistant Labour Commissioner were held in Mumbai earlier this month, but the proceedings ended in failure since no representative from the government of India chose to attend the meetings and the bank management could not come up with any reasonable answer.
At the end of September quarter, the government held 76.50% stake in IDBI Bank.
“All branches of the bank will remain non-functional as officers and employees will be on strike,” a senior leader of the United Forum of IDBI Officers and Employees told FE.
On Thursday, IDBI Bank scrip closed 1.28% up at Rs.83.05 apiece on the BSE.