New Delhi, May 29: Around one million bank employees will embark upon a two-day strike beginning from Wednesday. The strike, which is expected to evoke the participation of 1 million bank staffers, has been called under the aegis of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

The strike has been called to protest the below-expectation salary hike proposed by the Centre. While the banks have been seeking a hike between 10-15 per cent, the Union government has proposed to increase their salaries by only 2 per cent.

The decision, UFBU claims, will not only create financial complications for the employees, but damage their morale in an irreparable manner. While the government has cited bad loans and non-performing assets as the reason behind the lacklustre increment, the union claims the employees should not be punished for erring policy decisions.

“The volume of business and the volume of work of the employees and officers have gone up enormously in the recent years… In addition, bank employees and officers are compelled to undertake so much of non-banking business and all the burden of doing various government schemes have fallen on the shoulders of the bank staff," said the statement issued by the UFBU.

The strike call was issued after a series of meetings between the Chief Labour Commissioner and the Indian Banks' Association failed to strike a negotiation.

The union claimed that in the last meeting held on May 5, the CLC was firm on using 2 per cent as the incrementing factor for wages of all sections of the bank workforce. "This is not at all acceptable, considering the rise in cost of living," the UBFO added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2018 11:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).