All-India bank strike: unions press for five-day week, rollback of PLI scheme

Bank employees and officers across the country observed an all-India strike on Friday, responding to a call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), to press for the settlement of long-pending demands and to oppose policies the unions described as unilateral and discriminatory to the banking sector.

At a gathering held in connection with the strike, K. Ramesh Babu, secretary of the KDBECC, and N. Subba Rao, president of the KDBECC, along with leaders of several bank employees' and officers' unions, criticised the delay in resolving the demands of serving employees, officers and retirees.

Those who addressed the gathering represented the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), the All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Bank Employees' Federation (AP&TBEF), the All India Central Bank Employees' Federation (AICBEF) and the Andhra Pradesh Bank Retirees' Federation (APBRF), among others. The UFBU is a joint platform of employees' and officers' organisations in the banking sector.

Wage revision and service conditions in public sector banks are ordinarily settled through negotiations between employees' organisations and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), which represents bank managements. The unions have repeatedly said that talks on several issues have not moved forward at the pace they expected.

The major demands raised during the strike included the implementation of a five-day banking week, in line with what the unions say was a commitment made earlier, and the withdrawal of the government's Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which the unions consider unilateral. They also demanded that the implementation of the PLI scheme be kept in abeyance pending consultations with employees' representatives.

Union leaders said bank employees and officers had consistently contributed to the growth and stability of the Indian banking system, and urged the government and bank managements to respect what they called their legitimate demands.

They called for meaningful negotiations with employees' organisations and a time-bound settlement of all pending issues, including those concerning retirees.

Details of the scale of disruption to banking services on Friday were not immediately available. Strikes involving public sector banks generally affect branch-level operations such as cash transactions, cheque clearing and routine customer service, while online banking, mobile applications and ATMs often continue to function.

The union leaders appealed to bank employees and officers to remain united and vigilant in protecting their rights and in strengthening the public banking system.