'No positive response on 5-day banking': Bank unions to go ahead with 3-day strike

Bank unions have decided to go ahead with their three-day strike from September 28 to 30, saying there was no positive response from the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) or the Department of Financial Services (DFS) on their demand for five-day banking.

The decision came after a conciliation meeting on Tuesday conducted by the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner of the Ministry of Labour in New Delhi. Representatives of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), IBA, DFS, and bank managements attended the meeting.

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The unions said the demand for five-day banking had already been agreed to and signed in March 2024 as part of the last wage revision settlement. "Hence, we are going ahead with the strike action," the UFBU said in its statement to union members.

Government appeals for deferral

The meeting came a day after the Finance Ministry urged the unions to call off the strike.

The government said on Monday that it had kept the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in abeyance after discussions with the unions, addressing one of their two main demands. The other demand, five-day banking, remains under consideration.

At Tuesday's meeting, the IBA said the PLI scheme for Scale IV officers and above had been kept in abeyance as per government instructions. It said the issue would be discussed further at the bipartite level.

On five-day banking, the IBA said the matter was under consideration by the government and appealed to the UFBU to reconsider and defer the strike in the interest of the banking public.

DFS representatives also said the government had been taking several initiatives for the welfare of bank employees. They said five-day banking was under consideration and that the government needed to take into account the views of other stakeholders before making a decision.

The DFS asked the unions to defer the strike and continue the dialogue.

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Unions say strike will go ahead

The UFBU said it strongly protested measures by bank managements and other authorities to discourage employees and officers, particularly Scale IV and above officers and probationary officers, from joining the strike.

It described such threats, coercion, and pressure as a "clear case of Unfair Labour Practice under Sec. 84 of the Industrial Relations Code" and said such attempts would be counterproductive.

The unions told the government, IBA, and bank managements that they would consider deferring the strike if there was "any concrete and positive development" towards implementing five-day banking.

"Otherwise, UFBU will be constrained to go ahead with the proposed strike on 28th, 29th, and 30th September, 2026," it said. "In view of the above, we call upon all our Unions and members to go
ahead and implement the call for 3dys strike on 28th, 29th and 30th September, 2026."

The Finance Ministry had warned on Monday that the strike would coincide with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30, a key date for reconciliation, provisioning, and treasury and market operations.

It said the three-day strike, combined with the preceding weekend, could result in an effective five-day closure of banking services and inconvenience customers, businesses, government transactions, and international banking operations.

"Bank employees are urged to refrain from resorting to strikes, work towards resolving issues through dialogue, and ensure that banking services remain uninterrupted," the ministry said.