Wednesday, April 5 2006 14:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: An indefinite strike by SBI employees demanding higher pension entered the third day today (Apr 05, 2006), even as representatives of bank management and Centre sought time to discuss a proposal submitted by the unions.

The unions' proposal, submitted during the conciliation meeting called by Chief Labour Commissioner S K Mukhopadhyay, reiterated the employees demand for 50 per cent of last drawn salary as pension.

However, further talks were deferred by over four hours after the representatives of bank management and the Centre sought time to study it.

"We are still on job. We have put forward our proposal at the meeting. Government and management representatives sought time to study our proposal," All India SBI Staff Federation General Secretary Prafullo Patnaik told sources after the meeting.

He said the conciliation process was still on and so was the strike.

When asked whether unions are willing to negotiate on their demand for 50 per cent of last basic pay as pension, All India SBI Officers Federation General Secretary Shanta Raju said first the government should come out with a counter offer.

SBI employees are on an indefinite strike across the country from April 3.

A Finance Ministry official had admitted yesterday that the bank's operations have been hit by the strike. SBI handles 19 per cent of deposits and 30 per cent of customers in the banking industry through its 9,000 branches.

The Government is reluctant to accept the employees' demand as it fears it would trigger similar demands by employees of other banks.