New Delhi: The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has decided to call off the scheduled statewide bank strike for this Saturday as the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has agreed to fulfil the majority of the demands made by AIBEA. After the decision, all banks in the nation would operate normally, allowing for uninterrupted transactional activity.

“Understanding reached on all issues. IBA and banks agreed to resolve the issue bilaterally. Hence our strike is deferred,” AIBEA general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.

The third Saturday of the month, November 19, is a bank holiday. The first and third Saturdays of each month are banking days.

To protest ongoing job outsourcing, the bank union AIBEA called for a walkout on Thursday. Customers of a number of institutions, notably Bank of Baroda and Punjab & Sind Bank, had already been made aware of the potential service impacts in the event that the strike really occurred.

Venkatachalam had before made the point that, in addition to reducing recruiting at the lower level, certain banks’ outsourcing of positions puts the privacy of their clients and their money at danger.

Additionally, certain banks are breaking the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act. He had claimed that even in cases where the labour authorities had stepped in, the management had disregarded their advise, broken the Industrial Disputes Act’s rules, and forcibly moved the workers.