Our Correspondent
Kohima, Feb. 1 (EMN): The two-day bank strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) left many customers stranded, besides halting services as talks on wage revision failed to make headway or arrive at a consensus.
Joining the rest of the nationalised banks in the country, those in Kohima also staged a sit-in outside the State Bank of India (SBI) main branch on January 31 and February 1.
On Saturday, protestors at the venue held placards that read, ‘five- day banking; defined working hours; scrap new pension scheme; improved family pension’, among numerous others.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, a protestor who did not wish to be named, claimed: “Besides nationalised banks, even private banks have extended solidarity with those banks on strike.”
He added that the inconvenience created among the customers was uncalled for but the bankers were compelled to take step, as the demands from the bank union were yet to be addressed.
Several ATM booths were affected and many people customers had to return dejected in the face of shuttered bank offices and striking employees.
Many pensioners that came from nearby villages to withdraw their monthly allowance were most affected, as the strike was called “during the monthly transition period where maximum transactions were usually made”.
According to an elderly man, he had came from Sakhabama village to withdraw his monthly pension early in the morning, only to be left stranded.
