State-run banks will go on a two-day nationwide strike on May 30 and 31 as employees and officers who are members of unions will go on a strike to protest a the nominal hike of 2 percent offered by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

In the negotiation meeting held on May 5 by IBA, the proposition to make a 2 percent hike on wage bill cost was made. Making various demands, bank unions (United Forum of Bank Unions and IBA) have informed the largest bank in India, SBI (State Bank of India) about their decision to forward with the strike.

SBI said in a notification last week, "We have been advised by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and UFBU have served a notice of strike, informing their decision to go on nationwide bank strike on May 30 to May 31, 2018."

The last wage settlement for the period November 2012 to October 2017, there was a wage hike of 15 percent. The revision this year may have been impacted by increased losses faced by Nationalized banks on increased provisions towards NPAs.

Over a million bank employees of almost all public sector banks will be joining the strike, affecting nearly 75 percent of the banking business in the country. It is going to affect cash deposit and withdrawal in branches for customers, especially those that have their salary credited at the end of the month.

Banks like SBI and Punjab National Bank (PNB) had already informed their customers on the branches that will not be functioning. Private banks like HDFC and ICICI will function as usual.

Also, ATMs and digital banking systems of all the public sector banks should not be affected. So make use of UPI and Netbanking for your transactions these two days.

UBFU members include All India State Bank Officers' Federation, All India State Bank of India Staff Federation, All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW). The strike is likely to impact the business of SBI and many other state-owned banks.