MUFG Bank's dismissed employees to approach Labour Commissioner for relief

CHENNAI: The dismissed employees of the Japan's MUFG Bank in India will file a complaint with the Labour Commissioner for reinstatement, said a top official of All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA).

"Complaints will be filed with the Labour Commissioners in Chennai and Delhi against the sudden dismissal of employees by the MUFG Bank," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA told IANS. He said the complaint will be about the unfair labour practices of the MUFG Bank.

A total of 26 employees of MUFG Bank in India who have put in two or three decades of service with the bank were terminated on December 29 without any reason, two bankers who had lost their jobs told IANS. They said those who were dismissed include eight workmen and 18 officers.

"Some employees - like us - were terminated over phone. Owing to Covid-19, employees attend office in a planned manner. Some employees who were in the office were escorted out with the help of bouncers," H.S. Chaudhary, General Secretary and Virender Singh, Vice President of All India MUFG Employees' Association told IANS over the phone from Delhi.

One of the MUFG Bank employee told IANS: "On Dec 29, 2020, I was told over phone that my services are terminated and my bank account would be credited with 11 months pay and pay for three months notice period. I was asked to fill and sign the papers to get my Provident Fund and Gratuity."

"We have asked our members not to withdraw the amount credited by the MUFG Bank as the final settlement as the termination is fundamentally wrong," Venkatachalam said.

Venkatachalam said first it was Taiwanese Wistron Corporation near Bengaluru that delayed payment of salaries to the workers which in turn resulted in worker unrest and now MUFG Bank is summarily dismissing 26 employees without notice.

"The foreign companies seem to have been emboldened by the encouragement given by the central government to foreign capital," Venkatachalam said. According to Singh, the MUFG Bank had brought in a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in 2018 but not many employees opted for it.

The dismissed officials would be in the age group of late 40s and 50s, and also included women.

"At this age the dismissed employees would be having college going children and the sudden loss of employment and the bleak possibility of getting a new one at this age will put their families into dire straits," Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary said the bank management is trying to deunionise as all the office bearers have been terminated in the garb of centralisation of operations.

The MUFG Bank has about 400 employees in India. It has five branches - one each in New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Rajasthan's Neemrana. (IANS)

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