A bank strike has been called by the top body of the officers of public sector banks across the country today. The banks are demanding immediate revision of salaries and are opposing the merger of state-owned banks.
The strike call given by the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) is expected to hit banking operations across the country. However, it would be business as usual for private sector banks as they are not part of the strike.
Most of the banks have already informed their customers about the strike and its impact on banking operations.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of the top nine bank unions, has also decided to observe a strike on December 26 against the proposed merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.
Services at ATMs are expected to be normal during today's bank strike, but are likely to be affected on December 26 since more bank unions will be involved, news agency IANS reported.
Banks would be closed for most part of the extended Christmas weekend because of the two days of strike and other holidays including Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday (Christmas). Between Friday and Wednesday, most bank branches will be open only for a day, on Monday.
The bank unions feel that the mergers of these three banks will lead to job cuts and allow private sector banks to dominate the industry.
All India Bank Officers' Confederation joint general secretary Ravinder Gupta said, "We have demanded wage revision based on the minimum wages formula without linking to profits or paying capacity."
As of now, only a few banks have written to the Indian Banks' Association for negotiating salaries of officers only up to Scale III, said Charanjit, a senior member of the Canara Bank Officers' Association.
Differences in demands by banks will result in a huge cut in the funds meant for various components of the pay slip of employees, Mr Gupta said.
Dates on which bank services will be hit:
December 21: Bank officers' union strike
December 22: Fourth Saturday Off
December 23: Sunday Weekly Off
December 25: Christmas holiday
December 26: Strike by United Forum of Bank Unions
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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