Bank unions to go on two-day nationwide strike on May 30, 31

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

New Delhi: Bank unions have called for a two-day nationwide strike between May 30 and May 31 to protest a nominal 2 percent wage hike offered by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). Employees and officers of various state-run banks will participate in the two day strike.

Bank employees have organised a demonstrations on Tuesday at State Bank of India branch main branch in Mumbai.

In the wage negotiation meeting held on May 5, 2018, IBA made a propositions to offer 2 percent 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 here.

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 percent.

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).

With PTI Inputs