Citing surge in the third wave of Covid-19, a national trade union representing an estimated 3.5 lakh bank officers, is seeking restricted working hours at banks.
Several requests made to the Centre also include the demand that bank staff and their family members be offered booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine on a priority basis.
The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), an apex trade union on Friday wrote to Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking proactive safety measures.
“The infections among the bankers have been rising rapidly as per reports pouring in from across the country. The anxiety among the bankers runs high and the fear for safety of near and dear ones is once again haunting the fraternity as the trauma of the last two waves, especially the second wave still persists,” the confederation has stated.
The bank officers union has claimed that “over 2,000 bankers have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty, having succumbed to the contagion”. It further mentions that “thousands of our family members have also died of Covid-19 virus” and those who have recovered suffer with health-related issues.
The letter alleges that “the recognition of bank employees as Frontline Covid Warrior was delayed denying the opportunity of getting vaccinated along with other FLWs in the first instance, which could possibly have averted the loss of precious lives”.
The confederation has put forth ten suggestions for the finance minister’s consideration. Officers want a 5-day week, with banks closed on weekends, and business hours restricted between 10 am and 2 pm.
“The office hours should be strictly from 10 am to 5 pm to enable the bankers reach home safely in the backdrop of cancellation of local trains and withdrawal of public transport after dusk,” the letter states, adding that only half the staff at branches and offices be asked to stay physically present, the other half be permitted to work from home.
The union also wants bankers to be administered booster doses, as soon as the scheme is rolled out for frontline workers. Further, visually challenged employees and employees with physical disabilities, pregnant women should be allowed to work from home, and only skeleton services at the branches should be offered for the time being. The confederation wants Covid test facility at major branches, and special status to bank employees that facilitates availing public transport under essential category.
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