Thousands of SA bank employees are expect to down tools
The South African Society of
Bank Officials (SASBO) members will embark on a national strike on Friday. It says it's
opposed to the retrenchment of about 15 000 employees.
This as banks are downsizing and permanently closing some branches as they shift towards electronically centred manner of banking.
SASBO’s Joel Kokela says citizens can expect no service from their bank.
“We’ve got a membership of 73 000, so it’s safe to tell plus minus 45 000 to 50 000 members have confirmed that they are going to down tools on Friday. We also have the support other unions affiliated to COSATU. So we are expecting a massive strike,” he said.
Meanwhile, SARS said the protest may impact transactions related to tax payments and tax refunds.
“The South African Revenue Service would like to ensure that the impact of the strike on these transactions are minimised for both the taxpayer and SARS.
To this end, taxpayers are encouraged to submit their payments two business days in advance and similarly, conduct any tax transactions that may result in a payment to SARS, two business days in advance,” it said.