Nationwide bank strike today over five-day work week demand

Bank unions have called a nationwide strike today, September 11, demanding implementation of a five-day work week across the banking sector.

The United Forum of Bank Unions’ strike could disrupt services for four days, as it falls on a Friday ahead of the weekend bank holidays.

Among the union’s demands are changes to the performance-linked incentive scheme and improvements to pension-related benefits for bank employees.

UFBU wants incentive pay linked to overall bank performance, with a uniform number of incentive days for employees and officers up to Scale VII.

The union has also planned a three-day strike from September 28 and warned of an indefinite strike from October 26 without a resolution.

UFBU’s key demands include implementation of a five-day banking week, changes to the performance-linked incentive scheme, and improved pension-related benefits.

The unions want the performance-linked incentive to be tied to overall bank performance, with a uniform number of incentive days for employees and officers up to Scale VII.

UFBU has also announced a separate three-day nationwide strike from September 28, coinciding with the half-yearly closure of banks.

The unions have warned of an indefinite nationwide strike beginning October 26 if their demands are not addressed by the government and bank managements.

Public sector banks are expected to be the most affected by the strike, though private banks may also see some disruption depending on local union participation.

ATM services are typically less affected during bank strikes than branch-level services such as cheque clearing, cash deposits and loan processing.

The five-day banking week has been a long-standing demand of bank employee unions, following similar transitions already adopted in other sectors.

Bank customers have been advised to complete urgent branch-dependent transactions in advance of the strike period.

The four-day disruption arises because September 11 is a Friday, followed by the regular Saturday-Sunday bank holidays, with September 14 also a holiday in some states for Ganesh Chaturthi.

State Bank of India headquarters, Mumbai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0