Pinarayi Vijayan Extends Solidarity to Bank Employees’ Three-Day Strike

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed solidarity with the three-day nationwide strike by bank employees. He said bank employees are engaged in a courageous struggle against the Central government's moves to hand over public sector banks in the country to corporates.

He said he fully supports the strike being organised by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) from September 28 against the government's anti-worker policies.

The Central government's decision to undermine the official agreement signed regarding Saturdays being declared holidays is a serious betrayal of employees, he said. He also criticised the Finance Ministry for ignoring legitimate demands, including restoration of the old pension scheme, while providing higher benefits only to senior officials and neglecting ordinary employees.

He alleged that the government is attempting to weaken the bargaining power of bank unions, which are strongly resisting the writing off of corporate loans. He said the working class and Keralam's society would unitedly resist this alleged conspiracy.

The Central government should accept the employees' demands and take immediate steps to resolve the issues, Pinarayi Vijayan said.