The United Forum of Bank Unions has called for a sector-wide strike on 10-11 February as talks between representatives of bank employees’ unions and the Indian Banks’ Associatiion on revision in wages have failed. C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, said banks had offered a 10% wage increase, but the unions refused to accept the offer. Earlier, bank unions had announced plans for a two-day nationwide strike on 20-21 January, followed by further strikes in February and March. They had urged IBA and the government to resume wage-increase talks with a better offer and expedite the settlement at the earliest. The two-day strike was deferred, as IBA had raised its wage increase offer from the initial 5% to 9.5%. Some one million bank employees had gone on a strike on 18 December 2013 demanding early wage revision and opposing banking reforms.
