Jamshedpur: Transactions in all public sector banks in Jamshedpur came to a standstill on Thursday as the state joined the four-day zone-wise relay strike call by the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) and National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) that began on December 2.
Public sector bank employees have been calling for a wage revision and holding intermittent strikes since November 2012. But several rounds of talks with the Indian Banks� Association (IBA) have failed to bring about a resoultion to the vexed issue.
Talking to the media, an official of UFBU, said the Union, during its one-day nationwide strike on November 12 this year, had announced that it would launch zone-wise relay strike for fulfillment of its long-standing demands.
�Though the Union has reiterated its demand for revision of wage fixation, the term of which expired two years ago, to the IBA, there is no response till date,� he added.
Demanding hike in wage, over 2000 employees of 19 PSU and private banks of the city joined the relay strike. The one-day bank strike badly affected common people, who had to rely on only ATMs and internet banking.
He further said that last time the wage agreement was done with 17.5 percent hike. This time, the IBA is demanding hike of 11 percent when inflation and profitability of the banks have increased.
A bank employee said that the work load on bank employees have increased manifold due to shortage of employees. All the Union leaders said that they would go for indefinite strike in their demands were not met.