The wage talks between state-owned banks and the unions of officers and clerks have hit a roadblock over the quantum of hike.
While the banks have proposed a 4 per cent hike, the unions are demanding a 25-30 per cent increase.
In absolute terms, the size of the wage hike proposed by the Indian Banks' Association's negotiation committee is Rs 850 crore (Rs 8.5 billion) a year.
In the seventh tripartite settlement, which was effective from November 1, 1997 to October 31, 2002, the quantum of hike was Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) annually.
The number of employees since then have been slashed by about 11 per cent following the voluntary retirmement scheme in 2001.
Of the total Rs 850 crore (Rs 8.5 billion) wage package, the IBA has offered officers Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) in wage rise.
The officers' organisations, however, feel that since over 100,000 bank employees have availed of the VRS, they are shouldering the increased workload.
With the two sides unwilling to budge, the deadline set by the wage negotiation committee's chairman, V Leeladhar, for completing the wage revision process by the end of March 31 has passed.
The negotiations were kicked off in October 2002, just before the expiry of the seventh settlement.
"The two sides have taken extreme stands. But efforts are being made to go the extra mile so that the negotiations, like in the past, don't drag on for a couple of years," said sources in the know of developments.
The merger point for loading the basic was pegged at 1684 in terms of consumer price index in the 7th wage settlement.
The proposal now being considered for the new wage settlement is for 2284 points.