Relay strike by bank unions to hit transactions

Strike will be held zone-wise from December 2-5

Bank transactions in various parts of the country are likely to be affected between Tuesday and Friday of the relay zonal strike by the United Forum of Bank Unions and National Union of Bank Employees demanding wage revision.

Many banks have informed the exchanges that the unions have served notice for the strike.

According to the notice, the southern zone - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry - will see the strike on Tuesday. The strike will be on December 3 in the northern zone comprising Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan and the Union territory of Chandigarh.

On December 4, the unions will strike in the eastern zone consisting of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, West Bengal, Northeastern states and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. And on December 5, the strike will be held in the western zone consisting of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Daman and Diu.

Public sector bank employees have been calling for a wage revision from November 2012, according to C H Venkatachalam, general secretary of All India Bank Employees Association.

Talks with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) have not been successful even though the Unions have been conducting strikes over the years.

IBA in a statement said while it was keen on an early settlement of wage negotiations, the unions were demanding unaffordable wage hike but were stonewalling suggestions to improve productivity and profitability.  It also termed the relay zonal strike programme as “unreasonable, unethical and unwarranted”. It appealed the unisons to “give up the agitational path and return to the negotiating table”.