India Bank Unions Strike 5-Day Week

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, initiated a nationwide strike on January 27 to press for the immediate implementation of a five-day work week. This action followed the failure of a conciliation meeting with the chief labour commissioner on January 23 to yield a positive outcome. The strike, combined with preceding bank holidays on January 25 (Sunday) and January 26 (Republic Day), resulted in a three-day disruption of branch-level services for public sector banks across India. Key entities affected included State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of Baroda, which had to inform customers and stock exchanges about potential impacts on services like cash deposits, withdrawals, and cheque clearances. Private sector banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank were largely unaffected. Union leaders, including C. H. Venkatachalam of the All India Bank Employees Association, Rupam Roy of the All India Bank Officers Confederation, and L. Chandrasekhar of the National Confederation of Bank Employees, emphasized that the demand for a five-day work week was agreed upon during the 12th Bipartite Settlement with the Indian Banks Association in March 2024 but was awaiting government notification. They argued that the change would not reduce productivity, as employees agreed to work an extra 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday, and aimed for a more sustainable and efficient banking system.