Brazilian bank workers around the country voted to reject a proposed pay increase and begin a strike Tuesday for better wages and benefits, according to bank union leaders. Bank unions said they rejected a proposed 7.35% pay increase from the National Bank Federation (Fenaban) and would continue to seek a 12.5% pay adjustment. In addition, they said they hoped to obtain benefits worth more than R$1100 monthly and bonuses worth up to 70% of defined salaries for specific job categories. The vote to strike among bank workers unions came after the failure of 8 rounds of attempted negotiations. Brazilian bank workers last held a strike in October 2013, which lasted for more than 20 days. In response to the latest strike announcement, Fenaban oriented consumers to use bank services via the internet, ATM machines, supermarkets, lottery agencies, and post offices.