New Delhi, December 20: Customers will face a tough time for money transactions as two bank strikes are likely to happen on December 21 and 26. The All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) has called for a bank strike tomorrow, while members of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella unit for nine bank associations including AIBOC, have announced to go on strike on December 26. private sector banks could be closed on December 21 and 26 due to the two strikes.

The AIBOC has called for a strike demanding immediate wage revision and against the proposed merger of the state-owned banks. "We have demanded wage revision based on the minimum wages formula without linking to profits or paying capacity," said AIBOC joint general secretary Ravinder Gupta. The strike call is a fallout of failed negotiations between the confederation and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Bank Holidays in December 2018: Strike on 21st followed by Christmas Vacation to Affect ATMs For 5-Days Ahead of 2019 New Year, Keep Cash Handy.

The demands of AIBOC include a full mandate for scale I to scale VII officers, introduction of five-day work week, salary revision according to the charter of demands and a defined benefit pension payment scheme, unlike the NPS. It also rejected the IBA’s offer to discuss the issue of wage revision of officers up to scale III with the Officers Associations. The UFBU has also demanded a hike of more than 8 per cent which was proposed by the IBA.

Besides, the UFBU has asked its members not to report at work on December 26 to protest against the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank as it "will eventually lead to a decline in job opportunities, youth unemployment, lack of systematic job profiles with huge pendency of disparate work processes among merged banks and entities and a huge NPAs".

Notably, private sector banks would continue their usual business as they are not part of the strike. Most of the banks have already informed their customers about the strike and its impact on their normal banking operation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 20, 2018 06:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).