Banks, Union Settle for 15 pc Wage Hike, Strike Called Off

HYDERABAD: Public sector bank employee unions on Monday withdrew their call for a four-day nationwide strike, with the management agreeing to a 15 per cent hike in wages.

The bank unions had threatened to go on 4-day nation-wide strike from February 25 demanding 19 per cent hike in wages.

The wage hike was due from November 2012. However, on Monday, after a series of negotiations between PSU employees and the IBA officials the strike was called off.  Speaking to Express, S Nagarajan, general secretary of All India Bankers Association, said though the agreement was settled for lesser amount, it is indeed an achievement for the staff. ‘’In our previous hike, we had a settlement of Rs 4,820 crore which included both our pay slips and retirement dues. However, in the current settlement, we have managed to get Rs 4,729 crore for our payslips alone,’’ he said.

Apart from the wage hike, the IBA has also agreed to give holidays on second and fourth Saturdays in a month. Commenting on this, Nagarajan said that the protest has achieved fruitful results in creating a new working environment to meet the aspirations of the young officers. “The employers in the banking sector mostly come from IT backgrounds who are used to working five day week,” he said, further adding, “Neither the Central government nor the Reserve Bank of India works on Saturdays. When the parent organizations are not working, you cannot expect the banks to work on 6 days.”

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