Bank Strike September 28-30: Why will banks remain closed for 3 days? Check services that may be affected

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has decided to proceed with its proposed three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to 30 after a conciliation meeting with the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner on Tuesday failed to resolve the differences over its demands.

The development comes a day after the Finance Ministry appealed to bank employees to call off the proposed strike and settle their outstanding demands through discussions.

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The UFBU, which represents around 90% of the banking workforce, is primarily seeking the introduction of a five-day working week in the banking sector.

Bank strike September 28-30: What UFBU said after meeting

Following the conciliation meeting, the UFBU said it had responded to appeals from the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and bank managements seeking a postponement of the strike.

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“Responding to the appeal made by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), Bank managements to defer the strike, we informed them that if there is any concrete and positive development towards implementation of our demand for introduction of 5 days banking, UFBU will consider the same,” the union forum said in a statement.

However, it said that in the absence of such progress, it would proceed with the proposed strike on September 28, 29 and 30.

Five-day banking remains key demand

Five-day banking is the principal demand behind the proposed strike, with bank unions seeking changes to the existing working schedule.

Representatives of the DFS and Finance Ministry told the meeting that the government was taking several measures for the welfare of bank employees and that the five-day banking proposal was also under consideration.

According to the UFBU, government representatives said a decision would require consideration of the views of several stakeholders and requested the unions to defer the strike while continuing discussions.

The unions had also staged a nationwide strike on September 11 over the same demand.

Other demands of bank unions

Apart from a five-day working week, the UFBU has raised several other demands concerning employees and pensioners.

These include updating and improving pension benefits, introducing a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners and allowing employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to switch to the old pension scheme (OPS).

Bank strike could affect services for five days

If the strike goes ahead as announced, banking operations could face disruption over an extended period because the proposed industrial action follows the weekend before September 28.

The strike also overlaps with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30, an important date for reconciliation, provisioning, treasury operations and other financial activities.

Several public sector banks have already advised customers to use digital banking facilities, including mobile banking, ATMs, internet banking, Business Correspondent (BC) points and UPI, for essential transactions if the strike takes place.

Finance Ministry urges bank employees to avoid strike

The Finance Ministry had appealed to bank employees to refrain from striking, arguing that disruptions to banking services could affect customers as well as businesses and government transactions.

“Strikes cause disruption in banking services that inconvenience the public, impact the business of the banks, and ultimately harm the interests of bank employees and there is no fruitful outcome that is achieved through strikes,” the ministry had said.

The government also said it remained committed to the welfare of bank employees and addressing their concerns through constructive engagement.

With Tuesday’s conciliation meeting ending without a settlement, the UFBU has indicated that the September 28-30 strike will proceed unless there is concrete progress on its demand for five-day banking.


Inputs from PTI