Public sector bank (PSB) employees are going on a two-day long (30- 31 May) nationwide strike starting Wednesday. The strike called by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) is to protest against a ‘meagre’ 2 percent salary hike proposed by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
Since the bank protest dates coincide with the month end, salary withdrawals are likely to get affected. ATM transactions may also take a hit. Online banking operations, however, will be available at all times.
UFBU is a parent body of bank unions, including National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI). As the two percent wage hike failed to convince the bank unions, nearly 1 million bank employees have gone on strike which kicked off at 6 AM on Wednesday.
Vice-President of National Organisation of Bank Workers, Ashwani Rana, told a source, “On May 30-31, around 10 lakh bank employees all over India will be on strike over the issue of wage revision.” ATM security guards are also likely to participate in the bank strike.
Most of the banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB), have already informed their customers that functioning of branches and offices will be impacted if the strike takes off. However, the functioning of private banks like ICICI, HDFC, Axis and Kotak Mahindra is expected to be normal except for delays in cheque clearance. Withdrawal and cash deposit in the branches of public sector banks would be affected.
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