COIMBATORE: The State Sector Bank Employees’ Association (SSBEA) has decided to go on a two-day strike from July 12, to protest the move to merge five associate banks with State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.46 % (SBI).
Opposing the merger decision, nearly 45,000 employees in the Associate Banks, with 6,700 branches and 9,000 ATMS, will go on strike on July 12 and 13 since the merger will hit the customers and the business badly, SSBEA General Secretary, K S Krishna told reporters here today.
The total business of these banks as on March 2016 stood at Rs 900,000 crore with the operative profit of Rs 10,500 crores, he said adding that the association will request the government to reconsider the decision.
The merger is to make SBI a very big bank of global standards, for the benefit of corporates and big companies.
Such banks in the USA had collapsed like a pack of cards.
“If the merger takes place, the customers will face hardship as they will be forced to wait for several hours for a single transaction,” he claimed.
The managements of the associate banks, including State Bank of MysoreBSE -2.75 % and State Bank of Hyderabad, have given a nod for the merger at a meeting held on May 17 last.
