Banks will remain closed from Friday, December 21 to Wednesday, December 26 in the wake of strikes and holidays.
However, on Monday, December 24, the banks will function to provide a small window for carrying out transactions since it is a working day.
Banks would be closed on Friday, December 21, on account of a strike called by the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC).
December 22 is the fourth Saturday of the month which is the official off for the banks followed by December 23 which is a Sunday.
December 25 is a holiday on account of Christmas.
Then on December 26, the banks will remain closed as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has given a call for another strike.
In view of the situation, banks are making arrangements to ensure that customers don’t face any major problems during this period and extra cash is already being dispatched to ATMs to maintain the cash flow.
About 10 lakh bankers in private and government banks will go on strike on December 26 protesting against the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, and Vijaya Bank, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said on Thursday.
“During the conciliation meeting held in Delhi today (Thursday), the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner advised the three banks and IBA (Indian Banks Association) to hold negotiations with the unions and convey the Union’s concerns to the government,” AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatachalam told IANS.
“No assurance came from either IBA or the government. Hence the conciliation talks failed and the December 26 strike stands,” Venkatachalam added.
Though the bankers had wanted the strike on December 24, a Monday, for a bigger impact as the banks would then be closed for four consecutive days (December 22-25), the unions decided to strike on December 26 to lessen the impact on the public.
Banks would be closed on following Dates:
December 21: Bank officers’ union strike
December 22: Fourth Saturday Off
December 23: Sunday Weekly Off
December 25: Christmas holiday
December 26: Strike by United Forum of Bank Unions
(With IANS inputs)