Work at the Zoroastrian Cooperative Bank came to a standstill from Tuesday till Thursday as its employees observed a pen-down strike against transfer of 37 staffers.
Union members claimed the workers were “inconvenienced” as they were shifted from their present branches along the Central, Western and Harbour lines. Union leader Tukaram Pawar said these workers were “inconvenienced owing to the shift between railway lines”.
A board member said, “Operations normalized after the management called a meeting of union leaders on Thursday, where it agreed to reconsider five or six genuine cases.” Another member said, “Transfers are the prerogative of the management. Moreover these were within the city so we remained firm on most cases.” Bank chairperson Shernaz Mehta declined comment while managing director Uday Shetye did not respond to calls or messages.
Zoroastrian Bank is a Parsi-led cooperative bank that has over 200 employees. Its first election in 23 years took place in April. Amid the bitter battle for boardroom control, the existing management had levelled allegations of incitement against former employees and disgruntled clients.
Zoru Bhathena, who lost the election, said, “When was the last time you heard a Parsi going on strike? Perhaps years of neglect from the erstwhile board has seeped down to the staff. The bank has just 11 branches in Mumbai, how inconvenient can these transfers be?”
Bhathena alleged that the union had not been allowing non-union staff to work.