All bank branches and ATMs in the city remained closed and normal banking work was paralyzed on the first day of the two-day nation...
All bank branches and ATMs in the city remained closed and normal banking work was paralyzed on the first day of the two-day nation-wide bank strike and bank unions have claimed total response across West Bengal to the agitation. A United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which is an umbrella organization of seven bank trade unions, claiming total response to the strike said all private and public sector bank branches remained closed across the state.
Bank employees demonstrate in Kolkata
It said a few ATMs were forced open by a political party in a few places in the districts. There are nearly 10,000 branches and 21,000 ATMs of all the public sector banks in the state involving 70,000 employees, leaders of bank unions said. UBFU West Bengal convenor Siddhartha Khan said there was a call from the Indian Bank Association (IBA) for dialogue but UFBU had asked for a formal letter on this.
Bank strike today
Khan said IBA has asked the six banks including SBI, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank and Bank of Baroda to reconsider their decision and allow IBA to settle wages for bank employees to scale seven instead of up to scale three employees. The IBA has proposed a two percent revision in wages for the employees of the public sector banks which the unions have refused to accept. In the last wage revision in 2012, the bank employees got a rise of 15 percent.
Reserve Bank of India remained operational
An RBI official said some digital banking work was done through electronic systems like the RTGS but the functioning of the banks' servers was hit. Digital banking comprises about five percent of the total banking, he said. Reserve Bank of India remained operational through the trade unions offered moral support for the ongoing strike, an RBI TU leader said. People complained of problems in withdrawing their salaries as ATMs remained closed. Some departments of the West Bengal government credited salaries of their employees early owing to the strike call, an official said.
