New Delhi, Aug. 24 (PTI): Over 10-lakh public sector bank employees and officers today struck work in protest against the “delay” in wage revision, paralysing financial sector operations across the country and threatened to go on a two-day strike next month.

The unions — AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEA, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO — claimed that strike was complete and banking operations to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore were hit.

Agitated over delay in wage revision, which is due since 2002, nine major bank unions have asked for over 15 per cent hike in salaries against Indian Bank Association’s (IBA) offer of 9.5 per cent.

A final decision on the two-day strike probably in third or fourth week of September is likely to be made at a meeting of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine major unions that struck work today, in Mumbai tomorrow.

“The regional secretaries of UFBU will meet tomorrow in Mumbai to take a final decision on the proposed two-day strike, which is expected to be any time between the third and fourth week of next month,” UFBU convener V. K. Gupta said.

AIBOC president (Delhi state) T. . Goel said the bank unions were ready to “negotiate” on the hike in salaries only if the IBA comes up with a “viable” offer against an “unreasonably meagre” wage increase.

Union sources said there could be a mass movement involving employees and officers in other financial sectors, like insurance, if the government does not step in to resolve the wage revision.

The eighth bipartite settlement for wage revision is due for bank employees since November 1, 2002, but has not been settled because of negative attitude of central government and the IBA, the unions alleged.

Across the country, PSU bank employees joined the strike even as those in rural banks, private sector and many foreign banks kept away from the strike.

However, there were no reports of sabotage of ATMS of the PSU banks.

Talking about the strike’s effect on clearing operations, a spokesperson for the Reserve Bank of India said, “A clear picture will emerge only later in the day.” The apex bank employees are not part of the protest, the spokesperson added.

Gurudas Dasgupta, general secretary of CPI-affiliated AITUC, called upon the agitating unions to wage another battle if their demands were not met. “While the productivity of the workforce has increased, profits have augmented; the management is unwilling to give a better deal to the bank employees,” he said.

At present, all banks, particularly the public sector ones, are maintaining a reasonable profitability. During 1999-2003, per employee business had risen to Rs 2.16 crore from Rs 1.25 crore and per employee profit to Rs 1.77 lakh from Rs 90,000, the unions said.