Bank unions have sought the finance ministry’s intervention and set May 12 as the deadline to respond to their suggestions on wages and employee welfare after they rejected the Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA’s) proposal for a 2 per cent wage hike. The 11th bipartite agreement on wage revision could mean a big expenditure for banks, which are struggling with high non-performing assets (NPAs). The 2 per cent wage hike will cost banks approximately Rs 5 billion, while the proposal given by the unions will cost them around Rs 120 billion, according to D T Franco, general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation. In the last wage revision in 2012, bank employees got a 15