Striking SBI employees on Thursday said they are willing to climb down on their demand for higher pension, but would not heed Finance Minister P Chidambaram's appeal to resume duty till their demand was met.
As the employees' indefinite strike entered the fourth day, All India SBI staff federation vice president V K Gupta said, "We have not given anything in writing to the management but have offered to restrict our demand for 50 per cent of last drawn salary as pension up to the general manager level."
There are not more than 100 officers, including chairman, above the rank of general manager. Putting a ceiling on that level means the upper limit of pension would be around Rs 16,000 per month against the present Rs 4,250.
The management is, however, willing to offer pension with a ceiling of Rs 9,500, which the unions said is lower than 50 per cent of the basic salary of senior clerk.
Gupta also said the Finance Minister should also assure the employees that the government would accept any agreement between the management and unions.
"The appeal by Chidambaram is meaningless as talks with management do not have relevance unless government accepts any agreement between the management and unions," he said.
FM asks SBI staff to call off strike
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday asked the striking State Bank of India employees to resume their duties, saying there was no justification for continuing the stir as the bank management has assured that their demand would be considered.
Chidambaram said he was informed that unions on Wednesday presented a modified version of their demand and that the management had suggested that they needed some time to consider it.
SBI strike to go on, talks fail
"So the matter is under discussion. When the matter is under discussion, I would, as a public representative, expect and request SBI employees to resume duty. The discussion will go on and a solution will be found", he said.
"We are a democracy, a law abiding country. We are engaged in discussion. There is no need to inconvenience the people by continuing the strike," Chidambaram said.
Asked if any time-frame was set to resolve the issue, he said it is quite inappropriate for him to set a time-frame, as the management and unions are in negotiations.
"I think there is no justification at all to inconveniencing the people," he said.
© 2026