2 day Bank Strike: 85,000 branches closed, cheque clearance likely to be affected

2 day Bank Strike: 85,000 branches closed, withdrawals to be affected Amid the two-day nationwide strike by bank unions, salary withdrawals from branches are likely to get affected. Some ATMs may also take a hit. Banking activities in public sector banks across the country have been interrupted too as employees go on the nation-wide strike against the meagre 2% salary hike offered by the management - Indian Banks Association. Other than cheque clearance, operations in the new-generation private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank were almost normal. Most of the banks, including SBI, PNB and BoB have already issued notice for the customers about the ongoing strike. The United Forum of Banking Unions (UFBU) has gone on strike against the proposed wage hike of 2% as against 15% given last time, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), general secretary C H Venkatachalam said. “It is kind of an insult to the employees of public sector banks...to be offered this kind of meagre hike. We had no other option but to go on strike, forgoing two days’ salary,” All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) joint general secretary Ravinder Gupta said. Nearly 10 lakh employees are participating in the nation-wide strike. There are about 85,000 branches of 21 public sector banks across the country having business share of about 70%. -PTC News