Bank strike January 2019: Unions call for two-day nation strike; all you need to know in 5 points

In a bid to protest against the government's alleged anti-worker policies and unilateral labour reforms, the Central Trade Unions Monday said around 20 crore workers will go on a two-day nationwide strike from Tuesday. "As many as 10 Central Trade two Unions (CTUs) have joined hands to go on a 2-day nationwide strike from tomorrow. We expect 20 crore workers to join the strike. This is the largest number of workers from formal and informal sectors joining the strike against anti-people and anti-worker policies of the BJP-led central government," Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of AITUC, told reporters here in a joint press conference of the 10 CTUs.

Here is all you need to know about the bank strike:
1. The bank employee unions are protesting against the merger of Bank of Baroda with PSU banks Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank and had already called for a strike for two days against this merger last month.
2. The 10 CTUs going on strike include INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC. RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) will not participate.
3. The 10 CTUs will go on a protest march from Mandi House to Parliament in New Delhi on Wednesday. Similar protests would be done across the country.
4. Sectors like telecom, health, education, coal, steel, electricity, banking, insurance, and transport among others are likely to support the strike.
5. According to Bank of Baroda, the functioning of the bank branches would be affected due to the strike. For the smooth functioning of the bank branches, Allahabad Bank is taking necessary step during the strike, the bank informed.

Other than the banking sector, the operations in the insurance industry are also likely to be hit during the strike. These include All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA), General Insurance Employees All India Association (GIEAIA) and All India LIC Employees Federation ( AILICEF) who have also joined BEFI in the protest.