Bank workers to go on strike on Sept. 11, with indefinite strike planned for Oct. 26, as declared by UFBU.

The United Forum of Bank Unions announced on Monday that they will be going on strike on September 11 due to several unresolved issues. These include the delay in implementing a five-day banking system, disagreements over the performance-linked incentive scheme, and pension-related matters. The announcement was made on the popular social media platform X, by the UFBU - a collective of nine employee and officer unions from various banks.

The strike is expected to last for three days, starting from September 28, which coincides with the half-yearly closure. In addition, if their demands are still not met by the government and bank management, the union has decided to launch an indefinite strike from October 26. This decision was made during a meeting held on Sunday, after the government showed a negative attitude towards their demands.

If the strike does take place, it will have a significant impact on banking services, particularly in public sector banks, for several days in various parts of the country. The strike date, September 11, falls on a Friday and is followed by two bank holidays. In some states, September 14 is also a holiday due to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.

One of the main demands of the unions is the implementation of a five-day banking system, which was previously agreed upon by the Indian Banks' Association back in 2024. This proposal would increase working hours by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday. However, despite being recommended to the government, it has been pending for more than two years, as stated by the UFBU.

Another point of contention is the government's performance-linked incentive scheme for bank officers in Scale IV and above. The unions have opposed this scheme, stating that it differs from the agreement reached with the IBA. According to the UFBU, officers in Scale IV and above could receive up to 365 days of basic pay as PLI, based on their individual performance.

On the other hand, employees and officers up to Scale III would only receive a maximum of 15 days' basic pay plus dearness allowance. Apart from these issues, there are also other unresolved demands, including pension updation, a uniform dearness allowance formula for pensioners, and an option for NPS-covered employees to switch to the old pension scheme. The unions are hopeful that the government and bank management will address these concerns and avoid the strike, which could cause inconvenience to the public.

This announcement was made by Orissa POST, which is known as Odisha's No.1 English Daily.