Banking operations in all state-owned banks, old-generation private sector banks and regional rural banks across the country came to a standstill on Friday after the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) gave a call for a two-day strike to press for their demands, including expeditious wage settlement and five-day banking.

“After waiting patiently for 32 months, the banking workforce at public and private sector banks wholeheartedly supported the call of the nine unions under the UFBU umbrella,” said S Nagarajan, General Secretary, All-India Bank Officers’ Association. The strike will continue tomorrow also, he added.

At the meeting held on January 30, the IBA improved the wage revision offer from the earlier 12.25 per cent hike in payslip components to 13.5 per cent and later to 15 per cent.

However, the unions pressed, among others, wage revision settlement at 20 per cent hike in payslip components with adequate loading thereof, five-day banking, and merger of special allowance with basic pay. This resulted in a deadlock and the unions decided to go ahead with the strike.

“The total rejection of our demands – merger of special allowance with basic pay, coupled with loading at 2 per cent, and outright rejection of the demand for five-day banking by the IBA Chairman in the negotiation caused this ‘repulse reaction’ by the entire workforce in unison,” said Nagarajan.

Devidas Tuljapurkar, Convenor, UFBU (Maharashtra State), said around 10 lakh employees from 20 public sector banks, eight private sector banks and 46 regional rural banks across the country are participating in the strike.

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