Banks on Strike for two days; demand 20% pay hike and 5-day work week

New Delhi, Jan 31 (KNN) All banks including SBI and Bank of Baroda have decided to go on a two days strike. With Sunday in between, the bank will be closed for three days and re-open on Monday.

The bank union decided to go on strike as the wage revision for employees of public sector banks is pending since November 2017. Unions are demanding 20 percent hike on pay slip components with adequate loading.

Other demands include 5-day work week, the merger of special allowance with basic pay, scrapping of the new pension scheme, etc.

The timing of the strike coincides with the beginning of the Budget session of parliament as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2020-21.

The strike call has been given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions, including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).

Commenting on the same an official of the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) said, “The IBA wanted the unions to postpone the bank strike for further talks, to which they refused since there was no commitment from the bank management side”.

In the past wage settlement, which was for the period November 1, 2012, to October 31, 2017, the employees got a hike of 15 percent.

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