)
Banking operations such as cheque clearances, cash withdrawals and deposits at public sector bank branches across the country were affected on Wednesday, as employee unions went on a nationwide strike to press for a wage revision.
The strike had no impact on private sector banks. Services at ATMs of all the banks were normal, barring a few cases where the machines ran out of cash.
Clearing operation at Reserve Bank of India was also hit, office-bearers of bank unions said. The unions called the strike, as the unions and Indian Bank Association (IBA) failed to come to a settlement over wage revision.
While the unions demanded a 25 per cent rise in wages and later scaled down to 23 per cent, the IBA stuck to its position of an 11 per cent increase.
Unions have threatened to intensify the agitation in coming weeks if their demands are not met.
Claiming the strike was a success, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Convener M V Murali told PTI: "The strike is a clear warning signal to the adamant IBA (Indian Banks' Association) to change its rigid approach and come forward to for a reasonable wage revision."
"This strike has been forced upon us as bank management did not yield to our scaled down demands for a wage hike from 25 per cent to 23 per cent. So, we had to resort to a one-day strike and all employees had to forgo one-day salary," he added.
Banks, including the country's largest one SBI, had informed customers about the inconvenience they were likely to face.
"The UFBU has given a notice to IBA calling for nationwide bank strike on November 12 and All-India State Bank Officers’ Federation and All-India State Bank of India Staff Federation being a part of UFBU will also participate in the said strike," SBI had said.
The UFBU is the umbrella organisation of nine bank employees and officer unions.
The National Organisation of Bank Workers General Secretary Ashwini Rana said: "Bank employees are still waiting for their achhe din (good day) even after five months of the Modi government."
The wage revision of public sector bank employees has been due since November 2012.
There are 27 public sector banks in the country with a total employee strength of about eight lakh. There are about 50,000 branches of these banks across the country.
