A representative union of the bank employees, the State Sector Bank Employees’ Association (SSBEA), has decided to go on a two-day strike from 12 July to protest against the proposed merger of five associate banks with State Bank of India. Nearly 45,000 employees in the associate banks, with 6,700 branches and 9,000 ATMS, will go on strike as the merger will hit the customers and the business badly, said SSBEA general secretary, K S Krishna. He said the total business of these banks as on March 2016 stood at Rs 900,000 crore with operative profit of Rs 10,500 crores. The association will request the government to reconsider the decision, he added. He also said if the merger takes place, customers of these banks will face hardship as they will be forced to wait for several hours for a single transaction.
