The All India Bharat Overseas Bank Employees Union, an affiliate of the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), resorted to an indefinite strike on July 15 in protest against the dismissal of union general secretary Jaikaran Daneil.
The central government in exercise of the powers conferred under Sub-Section 3 of Section 10 of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), hereby prohibits the continuance of the strike in public interest with immediate effect, H W T Syiem, joint secretary in the labour ministry has written to Bharat Overseas Bank chairman and CEO S Srinivasan.
The bank has a staff strength of 1073 spread over 52 branches.
The notification, banning the strike, was published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) Part II, Section 3, Sub-Section (ii) on August 30. The Centre has referred the industrial dispute to the tribunal in exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (d) of Sub-Section (10 and Sub-Section 2A of the ID Act. Continuation of the strike will attract prosecution under Section 26 of the Act.
Conciliation meetings held by the central industrial relations machinery over the last one month had failed to resolve the matter.
While senior bankers hailed the landmark decision of the ministry, NCBE executive met in Madras on Saturday to take stock of the situation. We will not give up the fight, Sankareswar Datta, NCBE leader told Business Standard.
This is for the first time the Centre has banned a bank-specific strike and sent the dispute to the tribunal, a senior banker said.
Last year the ministry initiated prosecution proceedings against leaders of four bank unions for resorting to illegal strike.
NCBE had observed a one-day all-India bank strike on August 16 expressing solidarity with the employees of the Madras-based private sector bank. The strike was successful in the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Indian Overseas Bank
