The Indian Banks' Association (IBA), which represents the management of banks, has said the all-India strike call given by the unions on August 22 is "totally unwarranted".

S.K. Kakkar, Senior Advisor, Human Resources and Industrial Relations, IBA, made this observation in a communication to Sanjeev K Bandlish, convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

'BEYOND IBA BRIEF'

Kakkar acknowledged receipt of UFBU's letter to the Chairman, IBA, informing him of the decision of member unions - AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE,AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO - to go on strike.

The IBA has gone through the demands raised by the UFBU but observed that most of the issues are at the macro-level where the government has to take a decision.

The IBA can facilitate taking up these issues in the appropriate forum. In addition, there are other issues which are under bipartite discussions, for which talks have been initiated.

"We regret to point out that under these circumstances, the UFBU has called for a strike, which is totally unwarranted," the IBA letter said.

'HAS OPEN MIND'

The IBA, therefore, requested the unions to reconsider their decision and refrain from undertaking the agitation programme.

It extended an invitation to the UFBU to its office this afternoon along with a representative each from the officers' association and workmen's union to discuss matters "with an open mind."

The IBA also expressed the hope that the UFBU would consider the request being a responsible representative of employee unions and desist from the agitation path that would cause inconvenience to bank employees and put the general public at large to avoidable hardship.

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