State bank staff stage protest

Disna MUDALIGE

The Ceylon Bank Employees' Union (CBEU) demanding a reinstatement of pension for State bank employees organized a walk out at 12.30 pm, which was followed by a half day strike in all State banks yesterday.

CBEU Senior Assistant Secretary Channa Dissanayake told the Daily News that bank employees in Colombo district branches staged a protest in Hyde Park while employees in other branches gathered to towns of their respective areas to protest.

He said that nearly 3,000 employees participated in the Hyde Park protest and it was conducted peacefully.

He told that even though the President had directed the authorities on January 1, 2009 to take measures to grant the pension, the Treasury has not yet implemented it bringing out various reasons.

He said bank employees who joined work before 1996 were eligible for pensions while those who joined after that are deprived of their pension rights.

"This is unfair. If the authorities did not take necessary action to correct the situation our committee will decide on the actions that should be taken in this regard in the future," he said.