Over 10 lakh bankers to go on two-day strike to demand higher wages

Over 10 lakh bankers in the government and private sectors are gearing up for a two-day strike starting on May 30, as the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) did not make any improved offer over the two per cent wage hike made earlier, an All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader said.

The strike is spearheaded by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions.

The bankers would strike work demanding early revision of the wages. The wage revision has been due since November 1, 2017.

"It is now too late for us to go back on our strike call. We had requested the IBA to come up with a better offer than the mere two per cent hike offer made earlier.

"We also asked the IBA not to delink the wage negotiations for bank officers in the Scales 4-7. The IBA did not do anything," said AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatachalam.

He said at the conciliation meeting held on Monday, the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) had asked the IBA not to raise new controversies like delinking the wage talks for officers in the 4-7 scale.

"Though the CLC tried its best to sort out the strike issues, there is no positive developments. Hence, the strike on May 30 and 31 (Wednesday and Thursday) stands,” said All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) General Secretary DT Franco.

According to Venkatachalam, with regard to the coverage of officers from Scale 4-7 the IBA said it did not get the mandate from six banks as they opted to cover officers up to Scale 3 level.

However, 14 banks have given the mandate for covering the officers up to Scale 7 in wage negotiations as was done in the previous wage settlement negotiations, he said.