Lucknow: Bank employees under the banner of the United Forum of Bank Unions (Lucknow district unit) staged a nationwide protest on Friday, continuing their agitation over the implementation of a five-day banking week and concerns regarding the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
According to District Convenor Anil Srivastava, bank employees across public sector banks had earlier undertaken a prolonged agitation, including a one-day nationwide strike, demanding the introduction of a five-day work week. However, the Central Government has yet to implement the proposal.
He further alleged that the government has directed the introduction of a PLI scheme for Scale IV and above officers, including top management, in a manner that violates existing agreements. “This has compelled bank employees to resume their protest,” he said.
As part of the ongoing agitation, employees wore black badges while on duty and held demonstrations outside various bank branches and offices during lunch hours. The protests were led by prominent union leaders, including D.K. Singh, Lakshman Singh, Lalit Srivastava, Manmohan Das, V.K. Mathur, Sandeep Singh, Vibhakar Kushwaha, B.D. Pandey, Vishakha Verma, and Swati Singh.
Media in-charge Anil Tiwari announced that on May 16 (third Saturday), all union members and activists will wear black attire and organize protest meetings across centres to intensify their agitation.
The Forum has warned that if their demands are not addressed by the Central Government, they will escalate the movement with strikes and other forms of protest in the coming days.
