Bank unions to go ahead with 11 September strike as talks with govt fail
Bank unions will go ahead with their planned nationwide strike on 11 September, after talks with the government over key demands, including service conditions, failed to break the deadlock.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has said it will not defer the strike unless there is a favourable decision or a definite timeline on its principal demand for a five-day banking week.
The latest conciliation talks were held at the office of the chief labour commissioner (central), with representatives of the UFBU, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), Department of Financial Services (DFS) and labour authorities. The DFS representative appealed to the bank unions to reconsider the strike call in view of the Brics Leaders’ Summit during 11-13 September in New Delhi. The unions, however, maintained that they could not defer the strike in the absence of a favourable decision or a definite timeline for implementation of the five-day work week.
“Two rounds of online meetings were held today. There has been no concrete outcome on the five-day work week. The strike stands,” said Rupam Roy, general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC).
The State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, has informed stock exchanges that it received notice of the 11 September strike from the UFBU. SBI said it has made arrangements to ensure normal functioning of its branches and offices on the strike day, while cautioning that banking operations could nevertheless be affected.
Queries sent to the finance ministry, chief labour commissioner, ministry of labour & employment, IBA, DFS, joint secretary of banking operations remained unanswered till press time.
The 11 September action is the first in a wider programme announced by the UFBU. The unions have also called a three-day nationwide strike over 28-30 September and have announced an indefinite strike from 26 October if their demands remain unresolved.
Earlier on 7 September, the government kept the implementation of the performance linked incentive (PLI) scheme for senior officers of public sector banks in abeyance for FY2025-26 following concerns raised by bank employees. The finance ministry said the issue would be taken up during the ongoing bipartite settlement/joint note discussions to determine future wage revisions and service conditions, among others, for public sector bank employees and officers.
The move, however, failed to convince the bank unions to call off the strike. The unions’ demands include a five-day banking week, withdrawal or modification of the revised PLI scheme through bilateral discussions, and resolution of other pending issues. The five-day banking week remains their principal demand. Bank unions have also strongly opposed the PLI framework, calling it discriminatory and alleging it favours senior executives in Scale IV and above.
The five-day week demand has been pending for several years. Under the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note signed in March 2024, the proposal envisaged five-day week with an increase in daily working hours from Monday to Friday to compensate for the additional weekly holiday. The proposal was subsequently recommended to the government but has not yet been implemented.
The unions have argued that a five-day week would not materially reduce customer-facing banking hours, as weekday working hours would be increased. They have also pointed to five-day working arrangements followed by several other financial institutions.
The UFBU comprises seven major bank employee and officer unions—All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), Indian National Bank Employees’ Federation (INBEF) and Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC).
