Indian banks forced to a halt as employees go on strike

Employees slammed what they called “meagre” 2% pay hike.

Banking operations in India were hit as employees, primarily from public sector banks, went on a nationwide strike to protest against what they slammed as “meagre” 2% pay hike offered by the management body, Indian Banks’ Association.

Also read: India's banking woes dampen economic outlook

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFU) called for the strike to demand early wage review settlement, sufficient pay hike and improvement in other service conditions for officers up to scale VII. UFBU is a parent body of bank unions, including National Confederation of Bank Employees, All India Bank Officers' Confederation, All India Bank Officers Association and Bank Employees Federation of India.

The strike is set to continue tomorrow with the impact expected to be confined to states like Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Employees of new generation private banks like HDFC and ICICI were not part of the strike, according to a report from The Hindu.

The strike is set to negatively impact a country which is still reeling from a cash crunch after withdrawals at ATMs surged 12.2% in the second half of the year which particularly manifested in some parts of the country like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, MP and Bihar, and prompting the government to assuage a nervous public that it has enough liquidity to go around.