Bank strike averted; decision reached after talks between IBA and unions; will banks open on Monday?

In a major relief for millions of customers and businesses across India, the proposed three-day nationwide bank strike scheduled for September 28–30 has been called off. This decision followed positive talks late Sunday night between the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

With the strike averted, banks will remain open on Monday; banking services will continue as usual throughout the three days from September 28 to 30.

The UFBU—an umbrella body representing seven major unions and approximately 90 percent of public sector bank employees—had called for the strike to press for several long-standing demands.

What were the demands behind the proposed strike?
The central issue was the immediate implementation of a five-day work week. Under a proposal outlined in the March 2024 bipartite agreement, unions demanded that all Saturdays be declared holidays, with daily working hours extended by 40 minutes to compensate.

Additionally, the unions demanded the withdrawal of changes made to the Performance-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, pension revisions, an option to switch from the National Pension System (NPS) back to the Old Pension Scheme, and adequate recruitment to alleviate the workload at bank branches.

The proposed agitation had sparked widespread concern, as September 30 marks a crucial half-yearly closing date for banks. Coming right after the fourth Saturday holiday, the strike threatened to cause prolonged disruptions to branch operations, cheque clearing, and month-end corporate settlements. To minimize inconvenience to the public ahead of the deadline, the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had directed public sector and regional rural banks to operate normally on Sunday, September 27. Earlier in the week, the government had released September salaries and pensions for central government employees ahead of schedule and temporarily put the contentious PLI scheme on hold while calling for dialogue.

Following a consensus reached between the IBA and union representatives on Sunday night, the agitation has been called off, ensuring that banking services across the country will continue without interruption during the crucial month-end period.

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