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Starting December 2, banking services across the country will be hit over the next four days as about 10 lakh public sector bank employees will participate in a relay strike over the lingering wage-settlement issue.
This time the strike will be held in four phases with the unions adopting a relay method to go on strike. The unions will strike work for one day each in four different regions of the country.
The employees in southern zone will strike work on Tuesday, those in northern zone on Wednesday, eastern zon on Thursday and western zone on Friday.
Banking services such as cheque clearing and issue of demand draft are likely to be affected during these days in the respective locations.
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), representing bank managements, said in a statement that wage negotiations have reached a stalemate. The IBA is unwilling to go beyond the 11 per cent wage hike it has offered to its employees, citing “difficult” financial conditions of the banks.
Bank unions contend that this increase is too little. Their latest demand is for a 23 per cent increase in salary and allowances, down from 25 per cent demanded till last month.
The last full-day strike happened last month on November 12, when almost all employeesstayed away from work.
‘Unreasonable, unwarranted’While both sides blamed each other for stonewalling negotiations, MV Tanksale, Chief Executive of the IBA, said in a statement, “The relay zonal strike programme being launched by unions/associations from December 2, 2014, is unreasonable, unethical and unwarranted.”
The bank managements have often cited rising non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banking system for their inability to pay higher wages. Even in the previous wage-settlement round, banks had given a 16.5 per cent hike.
According to Vishwas Utagi, Vice-President, All-India Bank Employees Association, “Who is responsible for the NPA? Bring those responsible to book. Why should regular bank employees suffer?”
Public sector banks follow a five-year wage-settlement process, at the end of which wages are renegotiated.
The last such bi-partite settlement expired in October 2012 and the new wages need to be paid effectively from November 1, 2012. However, due to prolonged discussions, there has been no substantial headway on this.
Other demands of the bank employees include a five-day working week, regulated working hours, recruitment of additional staff and pension scheme on the lines offered to Central Government employees.
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