New Delhi: Banks all over the country will observe a one-day strike on August 24 in protest against the delay in settlement of wage negotiations.

"Indian Banks Association (IBA), the bank management body has been demonstrating a rigid and unreasonable attitude in the wage negotiations and endeavouring hard to delay the wage settlement", the Delhi convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) V K Gupta said in a statement.

The UFBU, the umbrella group of nine bank unions, will also hold mass rallies outside various banks in New Delhi, the statement said.

The bank unions are holding lunch-hour demonstrations from today (August 5, 2004), Gupta said.

Gupta said the strike call for August 9, given by the State Bank of India (SBI) has been deferred.