10 lakh bankers to strike work on Jan 31 and Feb 1

Bulk of the banking operations would come to a standstill on January 31 and February 1 with about 10 lakh bankers in government and private sector striking work over wage revision, said a top All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) leader.

Interestingly, the bankers have called strike on the day when the Economic Survey will be presented on January 31 and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be presenting her second budget on February 1.

"The talks with Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has failed. So the two day strike on January 31 and February 1 stands," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA told IANS.

According to him, majority of the 80,000 bank branches will remain closed on the two days.

The strike will be spear-headed by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector.

The UFBU had earlier announced that after January 31 and February 1 strikes, there will be three-day strike, starting March 11, and an indefinite strike from April 1 to highlight their demands.