Bank strike called off after talks with labour commissioner

The two-day nationwide bank strike scheduled for March 24 and 25 has been called off following a meeting between the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) and the Central Labour Commissioner, Manorama News reported.

In a circular, the UFBU stated that the adjourned conciliation meeting was held on Friday, where key issues, including a five-day banking week, recruitment, and performance-linked incentives (PLI), were discussed in detail. Representatives from the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) participated in the talks, with the joint secretary of DFS joining via video call.

“The meeting was productive, and the Central Labour Commissioner assured that he would personally monitor the implementation of a five-day work week. IBA has also proposed further discussions on recruitment, PLI, and other concerns. Given these positive developments, we have decided to postpone the strike for a month or two,” the UFBU said. The next round of discussions is scheduled for the third week of April.

The strike was expected to disrupt banking services across the country from March 22 to March 25. Since March 23 is a bank holiday, the strike on March 24 and 25 would have resulted in a four-day shutdown, affecting cash transactions, cheque clearing, remittances, and loan processing.

The UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank unions representing over eight lakh employees across public, private, foreign, cooperative, and regional rural banks, had called for the strike to demand improved recruitment, regularisation of temporary employees, and the introduction of a five-day work week.

Among the UFBU’s primary demands is adequate staffing across all cadres to reduce the workload on existing employees and improve customer service. The unions are also seeking the withdrawal of recent government directives on performance reviews and the PLI scheme, which they argue threaten job security and create divisions among employees.