SBI staff to strike work on Nov 25-26

Officers and subordinate staff of State Bank of India have announced a two-day strike on November 25 and 26 on the pay hike issue.

The unions had signed an agreement with the Indian Bankers Association on April 27 that contained the demand of SBI employees on an undistributed portion of a wage increase of 17.5 per cent (IBA negotiates on behalf of all government-owned banks). This was sent to the Union finance ministry for approval. The ministry is yet to respond, prompting a strike. If the demands are not accepted, the two federations propose an indefinite strike from the last week of December.

According to G D Nadaf, general secretary, All India State Bank Officers Federation and a member of the board of directors of SBI, a pay revision agreement, to be implemented with effect from November 2007, has been done only partially; the amount due is Rs 290 crore.