THE employees of Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) under the guidance of S P Tiwari, General Secretary, All India Bank of Maharashtra Employees Federation (AIBMEF) staged a ‘Dharna’ and registered their protest against the management of the bank in front of Bank of Maharashtra, Mahabank Building, Sitabuldi, Nagpur on Wednesday. More than 35 bankers were present in the Dharna from 10 am to 2.30 pm. The bankers also threatened to hold one-day nation-wide strike if their demands were not met on March 20. Lalit Kolte, Secretary of AIBMEF, Nagpur elaborated that the bank employees are demanding recruitment of employees at all levels. In 2021, the bank abolished post of sweeper and outsourced the work.

 

These workers are not even paid the minimum wage. The bank has not appointed regular sub-staff employees in over 700 branches. There are 318 branches where not a single clerk has been appointed. In 1,290 branches, there is only one clerk who works at the cash counter. The work-life balance is disrupted, and employees are constantly under stress, leading to health issues. This also affects customer service, Kolte added. Jaiwant Gurway, Chairman EMBEA, Chendil Iyer of UCO Bank, Vijay Thakur of Indian Bank and others were present.