Lucknow: Bank employees staged a state-level sit-in and a large demonstration in Lucknow demanding the implementation of a five-day banking week and early resolution of their pending issues.
As part of the protest, bank employees wore black badges while attending work. Senior office-bearers of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) staged a sit-in at the State Bank main branch, followed by a major demonstration by public sector bank employees at 5 pm.
UFBU district convenor Anil Srivastava said employees had been compelled to intensify their agitation due to what he described as the Central Government’s continued neglect of their demands.
The state-level sit-in was led by senior leaders representing all seven constituent organisations of the forum, including Y.K. Arora, Dinesh Kumar Singh, Ajay Pandey, S.K. Sangtani, Laxman Singh, V.K. Mathur, Sandeep Singh, Ashok Agrawal and Sachin Kesharwani. Several other bank union leaders and employees also participated.
Addressing the gathering, the leaders said their agitation would continue until their demands were addressed and asserted that employees would continue to oppose decisions they considered detrimental to their interests.
UFBU media in-charge Anil Tiwari said the forum had announced another demonstration and rally at the State Bank main branch on September 25. He added that a three-day nationwide bank strike would be observed on September 28, 29 and 30 as part of the ongoing agitation.
