Employees of public sector banks across the country are striking work for two days from Thursday to push for wage hike, among other demands.

"We are on strike from today as Indian Banks' Association did not concede to the bank unions demand for the wage hike," said United Forum of Bank Unions convener C H Venkatachalam.

Besides not agreeing to a wage hike to the extent demanded by the unions, Venkatchalam said the IBA has also retracted from its earlier stand that the existing pension scheme will be extended to the remaining employees who are now in PF scheme.

The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine bank employees unions of the country and claims to have members from public, private and foreign banks.

The UFBU claimed that as many as 10 lakh (1 million) employees, including officers, are participating in the strike and services in about 60,000 bank branches in the country have been affected.

PSU banks control about 70 per cent of the banking operations in the country.