Bank employees on two day strike over salary hike demand

People faced problems on Monday, as bank employees across India went on a two-day strike, pressing for a wage revision.

After the Indian Bank Association did not come up with any improvement in wage offering of 10 per cent hike in the pay package, the bankers decided to go on a strike.

Banks, including the country's largest lenders, the State Bank of India (SBI), Allahabad Bank and Citi Bank downed shutters on Monday.

The strike call has been given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of all bank unions.

A bank employee in New Delhi, Narender Mishra, demanded the government for salary revision.

"Bank employees were not interested in going on strike but government was not ready to accept our demands. Our salary hike was due from November 1, 2012 but government is not ready to give anything. Till now they have offered only 10 per cent which is very less for such a big industry and for 10 lakh bank employees," said Mishra in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, protests also went on in India's eastern West Bengal province where all banks were shut.

"Our demands are bipartite settlement that includes our service conditions and negotiations and this is a two-day strike, 48 hours continuous strike from today (February 10) till 12th morning," said a bank employee, Shantanu Chatterjee.

Bank employees gathered on the road and shouted slogans. The Any time Money (ATM) services were not affected with the strike of public sector banks.

There are 27 public sector banks in the country with employee strength of about eight lakh.

There are about 50,000 branches of these banks across the country.