Over 500 employees from across the country gathered on Monday in front of Bank of Maharashtra’s headquarters, Lokmangal in Shivajinagar area, staging a sit-in protest and demonstrating for seven key demands, including recruitment and adherence to agreements made through bilateral negotiations.
After the protest, a public meeting was held where representatives of all banking unions, Krishna Barurkar and Santosh Gadade, expressed full support for the movement.
Representatives from central labour organisations like AITUC, CITU, and Hind Mazdoor Sabha, including Lata Bhise, Ajit Abhyankar, and Nitin Kadam, also backed the protest.
They strongly opposed the contractual employment system and supported the demand for new recruitment. They stated that if needed, they too would join the protest.
Shirish Rane, convener of United Forum of Bank Unions, Pune, and president of the Pune District Bank Employees’ Association, also extended his support.
During the concluding speech of the protest, Federation General Secretary Devidas Tuljapurkar said, “Public sector institutions are making profits, but who benefits from them? The people or at the cost of employees’ exploitation?”
He alleged that contractual and outsourced employees were being used for permanent, day-to-day banking operations. “The bank has completely abolished the posts of cleaning staff. More than 800 branches do not have peons. Over 300 branches lack even a single clerk. More than 1,300 branches have only one employee handling all operations. The situation is severely impacting customer service and overall banking efficiency, yet the bank’s management remains indifferent. Employees are under immense stress and pressure due to this.”
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In a release, the union stated, “On March 21, banking operations will resume as usual. March 22 and 23 will be regular weekend holidays and on March 24 and 25, as per United Forum of Bank Unions’ directives, all bank employees and officers will go on a two-day strike, leading to a shutdown of banking operations on these days as well. Due to this strike, banking services will be disrupted, and customers may face inconvenience.”
Employees from various states, including Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, along with employees from different regions of Maharashtra, participated in large numbers in this protest.
Shailesh Tilekar – union secretary, Dhananjay Kulkarni, secretary, and Swayamprakash Tiwari, president, were present.