The State Bank of Travancore (SBT) Staff Union will join the all-India bank strike on Friday against the move to merge the Kerala-based associate bank with State Bank of India (SBI).
Director boards of the associate banks, including SBT, had convened a special session on Tuesday in Mumbai and passed a resolution demanding their merger into SBI.
The same day, the board of the SBI also met and took on record the proposal of the associate banks and extended its approval.
The staff union, affiliated to the Bank Employees Federation of India, fears that the proposed merger will hurt the interests of Kerala, K Balachandran, general secretary, said.
SBT transacts 22 per cent of its banking business through a network of 850 branches in Kerala. With presence in 19 States and three Union Territories, SBT has raised deposits of more than ₹1 lakh crore and disbursed credit worth ₹70,000 crore through its 1,166 branches.