Bank operations hit on first day of strike
NEW DELHI: Banking operations across the country were crippled as over a million employees of nearly 21 public sector banks went on a two-day nationwide strike starting Wednesday to press for wage revision.
Protesting employees, under the aegis of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, are opposing a “meagre” 2% salary hike offered by the Indian Banks Association (IBA), which represents management.
In the last wage revision in 2012, the bank employees got a rise of 15%.
As the strike coincides with the month-end, salary withdrawals from branches are likely to get affected. An RBI official said some digital banking work was done through electronic systems like the RTGS but the functioning of the banks’ servers were hit.
Most of the banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB), have already informed their customers that functioning of branches and offices will be affected in the wake of the strike. Operations in the private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank were, however, almost normal.
The two-day strike may affect customer transactions worth up to ~20,000 crore, industry body Assocham said, urging the UFBU to call off the stir.
The strike evoked good response nationwide, said a top leader of the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA). “Around 85,000 bank branches spread across the country, including that of State Bank of India and some private banks will remain closed for two days. The response to the strike is good,” CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA said.