Over 10 lakh bank employees to strike on May 30, 31

Over 10 lakh employees of government and private banks will go on a 48-hour strike starting on May 30, an All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader said on Friday.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) proposed the strike beginning 6 am on May 30, till 6 am on June 1, demanding early revision of wages. The wage revision has been due since November 1, 2017.

“The strike notice has been served to Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the bank management and the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi,” C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, told news agency IANS.

The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector representing staff and officers. Wage revision talks between UFBU and IBA, held in Mumbai on May 5, had ended in a failure.

Venkatachalam said the IBA offered an increase of 2 percent over the total wage bill of the banks as on March 31, 2017.

In the last 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement that was made effective from November 1, 2012, the IBA had agreed to a hike of 15 percent over the total wage bill. The unions, however, had rejected the IBA offer.

While the government had asked the IBA to conclude the wage revision settlement before November 1, 2017, the latter has been delaying, Venkatachalam said.