Banking services in Maharashtra hit as 60,000 employees go on two-day strike

Around 25,000 bank employees and officers in Mumbai are on strike; nearly 12,000 branches across the state are shut.

Banking services in Maharashtra were crippled as nearly 60,000 employees from various banks went on a two-day nationwide strike on Wednesday, protesting the meagre 2% wage hike offered by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

Around 25,000 bank employees from Mumbai are participating in the two-day strike, which began on May 30. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

Nearly 10 lakh employees working in various branches of 21 public sector banks, 13 old generation private sector banks, six foreign banks and 56 regional rural banks across the country went on strike following IBA’s nominal wage revision.

“Bank employees are on strike to demand an adequate wage revision to all employees and officers,” Devidas Tuljapurkar, Maharashtra convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), said.

Around 60,000 bank employees and officers in Maharashtra, including 25,000 bank employees and officers in Mumbai, are on strike, he claimed, adding that nearly 12,000 branches across the state are shut.

Protesting bank employees participate in a rally at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai on Wednesday.

“Bank employees have implemented the government’s flagship programmes, such as Jan Dhan Yojna, demonetisation, Mudra scheme, Atal Pension Yojana, in the pfew years. Our workload has increased substantially, and we need appropriate compensation for it,” Tuljapurkar said.

Bank unions decided to go on strike after several rounds of talks between banks and unions made no headway. At the wage negotiation meeting held on May 5, IBA proposed a 2% hike in the wage bill cost as on March 31, 2017. It also maintained that negotiations on officers’ demands would be limited up to scale 3 officers only.

UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank unions, objects to the proposed 2% hike as against 15% given the last time, CH Venkatachalam, general secretary of All India Bank Employees Association, said.