Do You Think It's Right For Bankers To Strike?
We live in the digital age where many of us with e-banking access don't have to fret about any downtime from banking services rendered at the local branch of the banks we use. However, for majority of people in India it's the same. So, when banks go on a strike, they bring normal life to a standstill for many of their customers.
In the past two days many bankers in India have been on a strike against a meagre 2% increase of their wages proposed by the Indian Banks Association (IBA). It's important to get a raise, but is it necessary to stop rendering services in order to have your demands met?
The United Forum of Banking Unions (UFBU), which had called the strike, claimed that nearly 80 lakh cheques in various public sector banks, old generation private sector banks, foreign and regional rural banks remain uncleared.-ET
As a citizen I feel this is an unnecessary move, but public sector enterprises have strong unions in India. There are 9 public-sector banks (PSB) under UFBU. But according to ET, nearly a million staffers under respective unions of a total of 21 public sector banks, 13 old generation private sector banks, six foreign banks and 56 regional rural banks participated in the strike which affected millions of other Indians in need of banking services.
Luckily for me I have my bank account in certain private sector bank branches in my city which did not participate in the strike and I was able to withdraw some cash for some emergency purposes without any issues. Many atms did not have sufficient cash in my city yesterday.
If you remember, Mangalore was also hit by a cyclone the day before yesterday which meant yesterday, when the weather improved many people did not have access to cash in certain parts of the city serviced by PSBs.
Both my parents worked in public sector banks. It wasn't particularly easy working in a PSB but the work load in PSBs are generally bit lower than some private sector banks. Although these days competition is high. But the salary and benefits are pretty decent.
I have a few friends working in PSBs and they tell me life is better off than if one worked in a Private bank. I can only take their word for it!
Indian banking sector is undergoing losses due to a HUGE amount of bad loans, frauds and write-offs. I'm not sure how these employees can demand a hike when their respective banks are losing in the millions.
I don't blame the employees for demanding a raise but these strike cripple lives of the poor and the poor have poor access to digital banking, forcing them to show up at a bank for any transaction. Many businesses were also hit.
In my opinion, I feel the whole central bank led banking industry needs an overhaul. They have made it easier for scammers and fraudsters get credit in the millions while lower-income and middle class have to deal with a mountain of paperwork and collaterals to get any credit. RBI has unearthed 47,000 Crore (Approx $7 Billion) of bad loans from just 5 banks recently!
The concept of banking hours has to change as well. We're in 2018, and you can't have banks closing for the weekend anymore let alone for strikes!
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Strike is just a way of protesting. There are other ways too which can help in getting their voice to the government. Indians should understand that by going on strike, it is only the Indian economy which is getting affected the most.
In Japan, if the workers want to protest, they do not go on strike rather they increase their working hours and double the production. That’s very creative and non-violent way of protesting. People should figure out the ways of protesting which can deliver their demands to the government as well as do not harm the nation’s progress.
Pathetic condition where only the poor suffer. In digital age when most of the banking were done digitally, these strikes doesnt count. Hoever there are many other works which get disturbed due to the strike...many corporates and institution have their account in these public sector banks..and by going into strike they hampered their work.a kind of blackmailing...
The customers are at the receiving end and most government only listen when there is strike. It does happen in my country also but it doesn't take long before it reopens
I honestly don't trust that story. Have known a few bankers and I know how much they make out of it.
Few known retired ones are happy with the perks and living a decent life.
The banks make money. I will not side with them on issues such as this.
I think it is their right to demand their right and most governments only listen to strikes. It might seem like 2% is little but they have families and stuff. However, I feel for their customers.
A strike is an agreement between both the bank and the bankers. The bankers want the raise. The bank doesn't. It is really the banks choice whether they strike or not. If they give them the meagre 2% then there is no strike. This raises another question. Is it OK for BANKS to strike? Maybe they shouldn't be allowed. Maybe they should be forced to give the meagre 2%. I am not a banker but I think everyone should be allowed to negotiate their pay as well as working conditions. If they weren't allowed then the banks could just do a 20% decrease in pay across the board and nothing could be done.
All the more reason to be done with the whole banking system. We all know how the banks can hold entire economies in their stranglehold.
The truth is that actions like the one mentioned in the post is another reason for all of us to realize that this institution has way too much power over us.
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Banking sector is facing one of the worst time in India. Banks NPA has crossed every limit. Bankers are being forced to sell insurance policies and other items, apart from making Aadhar card etc. It is being said that public sector banks are not being able to cope with scams, they should be privatized. But private banks are equally in bad condition. There are similar stories. They are also hit by problem of NPA and bad loans. Scams are not less there in comparison to public sector banks. Also, an employee of a public sector banks takes responsibility of performing fairly as he fears of losing his job but for private sector it is not a big matter.
So the ownership is not a big issue. The problem is somewhere else. Banking sector all over the world is worst hit by big corporate and their owners i n collusion with governments.