Bank unions announce September strikes over five-day week, PLI dispute
Banking services across India are likely to be disrupted in September as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has announced a series of nationwide strikes over unresolved demands, including the implementation of a five-day banking week and changes to the government's revised Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
The UFBU, which claims to represent more than 90 per cent of India's banking workforce, has scheduled a one-day nationwide strike on September 11, followed by another strike from September 28 to 30. The unions have warned that failure to resolve the issues could lead to an indefinite strike from October 26, 2026, according to ANI.
The forum comprises seven unions, including AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBOC and INBEF, representing employees across public sector, private, foreign, regional rural and cooperative banks.
Five-Day Banking Week
The demand for a five-day banking week has been pending for years. According to the unions, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) agreed to the proposal under the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note signed on March 8, 2024.
Under the proposed arrangement, bank employees would work an additional 40 minutes from Monday to Friday, allowing all Saturdays to become holidays. The UFBU said the proposal was subsequently recommended to the government but has remained pending for more than two years.
The unions have also pointed out that institutions, including the RBI, LIC, GIC, and NABARD already follow a five-day working system. They maintain that customer service hours would not be affected because of the additional weekday working time.
With September 12 and 13 being a Saturday and Sunday, the first strike could lead to a longer disruption around the weekend. Similarly, September 26 and 27 fall on the fourth Saturday and Sunday, meaning banking services could remain affected for several consecutive days during the second round of protests.
Dispute Over Revised PLI Formula
The second major issue is the government's revised PLI formula for senior bank officers. The unions said the earlier arrangement provided performance-linked incentives ranging from one to 15 days' wages, based on the overall performance of the bank.
According to the unions, officers in Scale IV and above could receive incentives of up to 365 days of basic pay under the revised formula, while employees and officers up to Scale III would have a maximum incentive of 15 days' basic pay plus dearness allowance. The revised formula covers around 40,000 officers, approximately 5 per cent of the industry's 8-lakh workforce.
The government directed banks to proceed with implementation of the revised PLI formula on August 21, 2026, but the matter remains before the Chief Labour Commissioner and the Delhi High Court.
Other Demands
Apart from five-day banking and the PLI issue, the unions have raised several pending matters related to pension revision, a uniform dearness allowance formula for pensioners, and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System to move to the Old Pension Scheme.
Union leaders said the latest agitation was "forced on the Unions due to the actions of the Government and managements."