Nationwide bank strikes announced over five-day week and PLI scheme

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank employees' and officers' unions, has announced a series of nationwide strikes to press for the implementation of a five-day banking week and the withdrawal of the government's revised performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The unions have called a one-day all-India strike on September 11, followed by a three-day strike from September 28 to 30, and an indefinite strike from October 26 if their demands remain unresolved, as reported by multiple sources.

September 11 falls on a Friday, and the subsequent two days are bank holidays. September 14 is also a holiday in some states on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. As a result, banking services, particularly in public sector banks, could be disrupted for four consecutive days in many parts of the country, according to reports.

Five-day banking demand

The UFBU says the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had agreed to introduce a five-day banking week under the 12th Bipartite Settlement and 9th Joint Note signed on March 8, 2024. Under the proposal, working hours would be increased by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday. The proposal was subsequently recommended to the government but has remained pending for more than two years, the unions said.

"The IBA has agreed in the 12th BPS/9th Joint Note signed on 8th March, 2024 to introduce 5 days banking (by increasing 40 minutes of working hours daily from Monday to Friday) and the same has been duly recommended to the Government," the UFBU's statement, dated August 23, said, as quoted by The Economic Times. The statement added, "It is more than 2 years now and yet the matter is kept pending with the government."

PLI scheme dispute

The unions have also opposed the Finance Ministry's revised PLI framework, calling it discriminatory. According to the UFBU, the scheme offers substantially higher incentives to officers in Scale IV and above based on individual performance, while workmen employees and officers up to Scale III would receive a maximum of 15 days' basic pay plus dearness allowance. In contrast, officers in Scale IV and above could receive PLI of up to 365 days of basic pay, as reported by several sources.

The unions argue that the PLI scheme should have been based on the overall performance of the bank and uniform for all employees and officers up to Scale VII, as agreed with the IBA. "But in a unilateral manner, the DFS/Finance Ministry has directed banks to implement a different PLI scheme," the UFBU said, as quoted in The Economic Times.

CNBC TV18 reported that the PLI issue is currently under conciliation before the Chief Labour Commissioner and is also being litigated in the Delhi High Court. The UFBU has demanded that the PLI scheme be kept in abeyance and modified through consultations with unions.

Other demands

Besides the five-day week and PLI, the unions have raised several residual demands, including pension updation, a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners, and an option for NPS-covered employees to switch to the old pension scheme, as reported by multiple sources.

The UFBU has also opposed any top-down and market-centric restructuring of public sector banks, and pushed for democratic boards, greater stakeholder representation, and restoration of public-purpose banking. It demanded fair, inflation-protected returns on small deposits and expansion of direct branch-based lending to small borrowers, as reported by NewsBytes.

The decisions were taken at a meeting on Sunday, following what the unions described as the government's 'negative attitude' towards their key demands, the UFBU said in a statement.