After a long spell of holidays, came a strike. While a section of bank employees rejoiced at the disruption they managed to create, thousands across the city bore the brunt.
Most banks and ATMs remained shut on Tuesday as part of a nationwide strike called by unions of public sector banks, demanding the immediate implementation of a five-day work week. The shutdown followed an extended closure: banks had already been closed since Friday (January 23) for Netaji’s birth anniversary, followed by the fourth Saturday of the month.
Many Calcuttans, particularly the elderly, queued up at banks after the long break, only to return empty-handed.
Union members set up pickets outside PSU banks, holding posters and wearing badges. A few private banks initially opened, but employees of nationalised banks approached them, and soon their gates were shut as well.
The disruption was compounded because most ATMs were shut. According to union sources, Bengal has around 9,000 functional ATMs, most of which were inaccessible.
A man who runs a fast-food centre on the city’s western fringes went to Burrabazar and Esplanade to buy spices and meat but found every ATM he visited closed. “Some shops deal only in cash. I scurried from one ATM to another, but almost everywhere the shutter was half down or completely closed,” said Saibal Halder, who returned without making purchases.
At a private bank in Golpark, visitors walked in through the morning, only to be asked to “come tomorrow”.
Around 11am, an elderly woman arrived at a PSU bank in New Alipore on a rickshaw to withdraw cash. As she was about to get down, a man sitting near the gate informed her about the strike. The rickshaw turned back. ATM kiosks in the area had strike supporters stationed in front.
The United Forum of Bank Unions — a body of nine unions of officers and employees — went ahead with the strike after a meeting with the chief labour commissioner on January 23 ended without resolution.
“The strike was a success. Most banks and ATMs were closed,” said Rajen Nagar, general secretary of the Bengal Provincial Bank Employees’ Association.