Bank strike today: Why are employees protesting, and will there be more strikes?

Bank employees and officers joined a nationwide strike that disrupted public sector bank branches on Friday. The action reflects a wider standoff over five-day banking, incentives, pensions and unresolved service issues.

In Short

• Nationwide strike by bank unions disrupted banking on September 11
• Demands include 5-day work week, PLI scheme changes and pension issue resolution
• More strikes planned, including a three-day strike from September 28

Banking services, particularly at public sector banks, were disrupted across the country on Friday as employees and officers joined a nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

The one-day strike on September 11 is part of a larger escalation by bank unions over the long-pending demand for a five-day banking week, differences over the performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and other unresolved service and pension-related issues.

The impact was visible across several states. In Madhya Pradesh, around 7,000 bank branches were affected, with about 42,000 employees participating in the strike. The disruption was estimated to affect banking business worth around Rs 5,500 crore in the state for the day.

The strike has largely affected public sector bank branches, while private sector banks have continued to function.

But Friday's strike may not be the last disruption for bank customers. UFBU has already announced another three-day nationwide strike later this month and has threatened an indefinite strike from October 26 if the issues remain unresolved.

WHY ARE BANK EMPLOYEES ON STRIKE?

The immediate trigger is the unions' demand for the implementation of a five-day banking week.

The UFBU says the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had already agreed to introduce five-day banking under the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note signed on March 8, 2024.

The proposal involves increasing working hours by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday so that Saturdays can become holidays. The proposal was subsequently recommended to the government, but the unions say it has remained pending for more than two years.

The unions argue that they are not asking for a fresh concession but for implementation of an agreement that has already been reached between the banking industry and employee representatives.

In its message ahead of Friday's strike, the UFBU-affiliated unions called the five-day work week "neither new nor unreasonable" and said the focus was on implementing what had already been agreed.

The unions have also framed the demand as a work-life balance issue, pointing to more time with families, better working conditions and the changing nature of banking, where many customer services are now available digitally.

WHAT IS THE PLI DISPUTE?

The second major issue is the government's performance-linked incentive scheme.

The UFBU had opposed the revised PLI structure, arguing that it created a significant difference in incentives between senior officers and other bank employees.

According to the union's earlier explanation, the previous understanding with the IBA was that PLI would be linked to the overall performance of the bank, with a uniform number of incentive days for employees and officers up to Scale VII.

The government subsequently introduced a different structure for senior officers.

Under the disputed structure, officers in Scale IV and above could potentially receive PLI linked to individual performance, while employees and officers up to Scale III would have a much lower ceiling. The unions argued that this could create a very large gap in incentive payouts.

However, there has been movement on this issue in the days leading up to Friday's strike.

The Department of Financial Services has advised public sector banks to keep the PLI scheme for Scale IV to VIII officers in abeyance for 2025-26, with the issue to be discussed bilaterally between the unions and the IBA.

The UFBU welcomed the move but said it was not enough to call off the strike because its main demand on five-day banking remained unresolved.

At a conciliation meeting on September 9, the government said five-day banking was still under consideration and appealed to the unions to defer the strike. The UFBU, however, said it could not withdraw the strike call without a definite development or timeline on the five-day work week.

WHAT ELSE ARE BANK UNIONS DEMANDING?

The strike is not limited to five-day banking and PLI.

The UFBU has also raised pension-related and other residual issues affecting bank employees and retirees.

Among the demands raised by the unions are:

Implementation of the five-day banking week, withdrawal or modification of the government's revised PLI scheme through bilateral discussions, resolution of pending pension-related issues, updating of pensions, a uniform dearness allowance formula for pensioners, an option for employees covered under NPS to switch to the old pension system, resolution of other pending service-related issues

The unions have also objected to moving ahead with a fresh charter for the next wage revision while they believe issues from the previous settlement remain unresolved.

WILL THERE BE MORE BANK STRIKES?

Friday's strike is the first major nationwide strike in the current escalation programme.

The UFBU has announced another three-day all-India strike on September 28, 29 and 30.

If the disputes remain unresolved, the unions have warned of an indefinite nationwide strike beginning October 26.

That means bank customers could face another round of disruption later this month, followed by the possibility of a much more prolonged shutdown from October 26.

State Bank of India has already informed customers that its operations could be affected by the planned strikes, although the bank said it had made arrangements to keep branches and offices functioning as far as possible.

WHAT DID THE BANK UNIONS SAY ON FRIDAY?

In a message circulated by the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), the unions urged employees and officers to stand together for the strike and described the action as a fight for "dignity at work and life beyond work".

The union said employees were giving up a day's salary to participate and reiterated that five-day banking was a commitment that should now be implemented.

The message also said the unions wanted meaningful and timely bilateral resolution of their other demands.

The broader argument from the unions is that the issue is not merely about getting Saturdays off. They see the five-day week as part of a larger question around working conditions, employee welfare and the future of the banking workforce.

The biggest impact is on branch-based banking services, particularly at public sector banks where employee participation has been high.

Customers may face disruption or delays in services that require branch staff, including cash-related work, cheque processing, documentation, KYC-related work and loan-related services.

Digital banking channels such as UPI, internet banking, mobile banking and ATMs are generally expected to continue functioning, although transactions or services requiring back-office or branch intervention could still be delayed.

The impact is also not uniform across every bank because participation in the strike differs between institutions.

For customers, therefore, the immediate disruption may be limited to branch operations, but the bigger concern is that the dispute has not ended with Friday's strike.

- Ends