Bank unions call for two-day strike from May 30 to protest 2% wage hike

Employees and officers of various state-run banks have called for a two-day nationwide strike from May 30 to protest a nominal 2 per cent wage hike offered by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

In the wage negotiation meeting held on May 5, 2018, IBA made a proposition to offer 2 per cent hike in the wage bill cost as on March 31, 2017.

It also maintained that the negotiations on officers demands would be restricted up to scale III officers only.

"It is only because of provisions towards NPA that banks have booked losses, and for this, bank employees are not responsible," United Forum of Bank Unions' convener Devidas Tuljapurkar told reporters.

He said in the last two-three years, bank employees have worked tirelessly for implementation of government initiatives such as Jan-Dhan, demonetisation, Mudra and Atal Pension Yojana, among others.

"This has resulted into huge increase in their workloads," he said.

In the last wage settlement, which was for the period November 1, 2012 to October 31, 2017, IBA had give a wage hike of 15 per cent.

Bank employees have organised a demonstration on May 29 at State Bank of India' branch main branch at Fort in Mumbai.

UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions, including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).