SBI staff under the All India State Bank of India Staff Federation (AISBISF) have threatened to go on a two-day nationwide strike beginning May 25 to press for various demands. According to reports from The Economic Times, Devdiscourse, ETHRWorld, and Business Standard, the strike will affect SBI's banking operations for five days nationwide, as the fourth Saturday and Sunday fall before the strike date. Additionally, there will be a holiday in many states on account of Eid al-Adha on May 27, a day after the strike ends.
The union's demands now include the recruitment of adequate employees, messengers, and Armed Guards, as reported by Devdiscourse. Additionally, the union has demanded a change of Pension Fund Manager option to NPS Employees. The union also demanded that the bank stop outsourcing permanent jobs, citing concerns that outsourcing creates direct risks of data leaks, misuse, fraud, and identity theft, endangering customer trust and exposing the bank to severe reputational and legal consequences. Another significant demand concerns the appointment of the Workmen's Employee Director on the board, as reported by AISBISF in their official statement.
The Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner is slated to convene a conciliation meeting on May 23 with the union and management to reach a common ground to avoid the strike. According to The Economic Times, Devdiscourse, ETHRWorld, and Business Standard, despite the provision requiring appointment from a panel submitted by the representative union, this democratic and statutory right of employees has been consistently ignored. The union stated that this continued inaction reflects a deliberate denial of workmen's representation at the highest level of decision-making and is wholly unacceptable.
