All India Financial institution Staff Affiliation Common Secretary C. H. Venkatachalam speaks throughout a press convention saying the nationwide strike motion over their pending calls for on the Press Membership of India, in New Delhi on Tuesday. United Discussion board of Financial institution Unions calls for the implementation of a five-day banking week and the withdrawal of the revised Efficiency Linked Incentive
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ANI
The United Discussion board of Financial institution Unions (UFBU) has introduced a sequence of strikes, starting with a one-day on September 11, over unresolved 4 key calls for, reminiscent of five-day banking week and the federal government’s revised Efficiency Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the UFBU mentioned that the September 11 strike might be adopted by a three-day strike from September 28 to September 30. If the grievances are usually not addressed, the Unions acknowledged that they might proceed on an indefinite strike from October 26.
The UFBU includes seven unions — AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBOC and INBEF — and claims to symbolize 90 per cent of workforce throughout public sector, non-public, international, regional, rural and cooperative banks, as per assertion.
That is the second strike the UFBU has known as for in a few year-and-half. In March 2025, the strike was deferred after the Chief Labour Commissioner requested the Indian Banks’ Affiliation and Unions to barter PLI scheme modifications.
The federal government relatively negotiating on the proposal, mentioned the Unions, directed banks in March 2026 to implement the method. The matter was subsequently taken to the Delhi Excessive Court docket and stays pending, in response to the discharge.
The newest escalation got here after the Division of Monetary Companies, underneath the Union Ministry of Finance, once more directed banks on August 21, 2026, to proceed with implementation. The unions have alleged that this violates the established order requirement underneath the Industrial Disputes Act whereas the dispute stays earlier than the Chief Labour Commissioner.
General, the 4 key calls for, listed out within the official assertion, are for implementation of the five-day banking week pending for a number of years, modification of the Efficiency Linked Incentive scheme by means of bilateral discussions because the Unions mentioned it’s not acceptable in present format, and determination of pending residual points.
The Unions acknowledged that banks agreed in precept to maneuver in the direction of a five-day week in 2015, when the second and fourth Saturdays had been declared holidays.
5 years later, the problem was revisited and subsequently formalised by means of the wage settlement signed on March 8, 2024. In line with the assertion, underneath the association, financial institution staff agreed to work an extra 40 minutes on daily basis from Monday to Friday in return for all Saturdays being declared holidays, guaranteeing that present customer support hours stay intact.
The Unions mentioned they’re nonetheless awaiting response from Finance Ministry to their greater than two-year-old settlement for five-day every week work schedule. They argued that five-day working weeks schedule are already adopted by establishments together with the Reserve Financial institution of India, LIC, GIC and NABARD, together with different authorities and personal establishments.
On the PLI scheme, they mentioned it was launched by means of a 2020 settlement and utilized uniformly to financial institution staff, from housekeeping workers to Common Managers. Underneath that association, incentives ranged from one to a most of 15 days’ wages, relying on the efficiency of the financial institution.
Nevertheless, in November 2024, the Division of Monetary Companies directed banks to undertake a revised incentive method based mostly on particular person efficiency for Scale IV to VII officers. The unions mentioned this covers round 40,000 officers, or about 5 per cent of the business’s 8-lakh-strong workforce.
Underneath the revised method, senior officers might obtain incentives of as much as three hundred and sixty five days’ wages, in contrast with a most of 15 days for the remaining 95 per cent of staff, the Unions mentioned, including that it’s going to create important disparity inside the workforce which isn’t acceptable.
Printed on September 1, 2026
