Bank staff plan one-day strike on Dec 16

About 600,000 employees of India's banks plan to go on a one-day strike on Dec. 16 to protest the move to merge state-owned banks.

"We are against any move for merger and consolidation in the banking industry," CH Venkatachalam, general secretary of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) told Reuters over telephone.

"We term the move as closure of public sector banks," he said. The employees were also protesting the ongoing move to merge State Bank of Indore with its founder State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, he added.

Earlier, Indian Banks Association, the apex banker's body, said it got a notice from All India Bank Officers' Association and AIBEA informing its members working in state-owned, private and foreign banks would strike work on Dec. 16.

State-run Corporation Bank also informed stock exchanges normal functioning in bank branches may be affected owing to the strike.