Two-day bank strike: Services hit in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; staff protest 'meagre' pay hike

Chennai: Employees of various banks, part of the United Forum of Bank Unions, continued their protest for the second on Thursday, against the ‘meagre’ two percent wage hike offered by the Indian Banks Association. As part of the agitation, employees staged a demonstration in front of the Union Bank of India office in Chennai and raised slogans. Bank Employees Federation of India, Tamil Nadu, General Secretary, CP Krishnan said the staff held protests in front of banks across 50 places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. [caption id=“attachment_4405669” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Following the strike call was given by the associations, banking services were hit in the state and neighbouring Puducherry. Nearly 12 lakh cheques worth Rs 7,000 crore stagnated in the state due to the two-day strike. The unions had claimed that the strike was a ’total success’ as employees ’enthusiastically participated in the strike in all banks and in all branches.’ Operations in the new-generation private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, however, were almost normal, barring few activities including cheque clearances. In its last wage negotiation meeting held earlier this month, Indian Banking Association proposed a nominal salary revision to bank employees and officers, owing to huge losses incurred by them in the last few quarters, bank unions said. Wage revision in the banks has been due from 2 November, 2017.