I don't get it. The bank has to cover the cost of providing a branch, people to work in the branch, and all the necessary equipment to provide services like printing duplicate statements.

There is a cost tothe bank for providing duplicate statements. If the bank provided them for 'free', then people like me, who never ask for such things, are effectively helping to pay for people like you who make these requests.

What's so hard to understand about the banks charging people who ask for these things? Banks are there to make money. That's why people buy shares in them.