BOMBAY, Aug 24 (AFP) - India's state-run banks, which make up three-quarters of the country's lending institutions, were crippled Tuesday by a one-day pay strike that union leaders said kept one million workers from their jobs.
The strike, called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), affected 27 banks in India's overwhelmingly state-dominated financial services sector, bank officials said.
"The strike has affected the entire industry. In Bombay only a few branches are open," said a senior executive of the state-run Bank of India.
"In our own office, 30 percent of the employees are working but most are on strike," the official said in the country's financial hub, Bombay. "It reflects the situation of the rest of the country."
UFBU convenor V.K. Gupta said the strike had been a success, with one million workers staying away from their jobs.
The nine unions represented by the UFBU would draw plans on Wednesday to intensify their action, including for a proposed two-day strike next month.
The strike also hit treasury market operations and employees of some private sector and foreign banks had joined in to express sympathy for their state-employed colleagues, said Vishwas Udagi, joint secretary of the All India Bank Employees' Association.
Workers are demanding an 18 percent pay rise but the government will only offer 14 percent, said Udagi. The union says its demand for wage hikes has been pending for two years.
"We want an early wage settlement... We will go on strike again if we don't succeed this time," he said.
The one-day walkout marked the latest industrial unrest facing the Congress party-led government elected in May as its seeks to maintain economic reforms while keeping its communist backers happy.
India is also in the grip of a four-day-old truckers' strike over a new service tax. The action has led to largescale disruptions and price rises.