Bank staff strike on March 15-16 against privatisation

Chennai, March 11 (IANS) With the conciliation meeting between bank unions and the Central government failing, about 10 lakh bank employees will strike work for two continuous days - March 15 and 16 - protesting against the government decision to privatise public sector banks, the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) said on Thursday.According to AIBEA General Secretary C. H.Venkatachalam, the conciliation meeting held between the bank unions and the Union Finance Ministry on March 4, 9 and 10 failed.The unions said they would reconsider their strike call if the government agrees to reconsider their decision to privatise public sector banks.As the Finance Ministry representative could not give any such commitment, the conciliation meeting did not yield any positive result, they said.
--IANS vj/vd