Mangalore : Employees of old private sector as well as public sector banks went on a day-long strike against banking sector reforms.

During the protest, the protestors said that around 10 lakh employees of public sector banks, old private sector banks, regional rural banks, and cooperative banks are on strike. UFBU contains five employees’ unions and four officer unions of private sector and public sector banks in India.

The strike is expected to delay cheque clearance and banking operations. The employees are protesting against the outsourcing of banking jobs and the Khandelwal Committee’s attempts to impose anti-employee recommendations. They said that employees are also unhappy about pension and working hour issues.

He said that the government is trying to reduce their share of equity capital in public sector banks, increasing hold of private capital in these banks under the pretext of banking reforms. The employees are also condemning the government’s policy of consolidation and merger of public sector banks, which will totally weaken the banks.