Banking transactions in the southern States came to a standstill on Tuesday due to the first-leg of relay zonal bank strike in which over 1.50 lakh employees, officers and managers from 23,000 branches took part.
According to official sources, 2.5 crore cheques worth Rs.1.75 lakh crore got struck at the Chennai Clearing House, which is attached to the southern grid.
The one-day stir called by the United Forum of Bank Unions, comprising five workmen and four officers’ associations, also impacted money market and government transactions, negotiations of import-export bills and stock exchange transactions. In many places, several automated teller machines ran out of cash. However, some of the private sector banks in Chennai city functioned as usual.
All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) General-Secretary C. H. Venkatachalam said the strike was held to press for early implementation of the wage revision settlement that was due from November, 2012.
While the associations demanded an increase of over 20 per cent of pay-slip cost, the Indian Banks Association offered 11 per cent increase over the existing wage bill, citing reduction in net profits due to heavy provisioning of bad debts. “Bad loans can be recovered through stringent measures. But the losses cannot be passed on to the employees,” he said.
