Banks will remain open this Sunday ahead of a three-day nationwide strike from September 28, the government said, offering some relief to customers.
The meeting came a day after the Finance Ministry appealed to bank employees to refrain from striking and resolve their remaining demands through dialogue. The unions have raised concerns over increasing workloads, staff shortages, compliance responsibilities and performance targets affecting employees. The UFBU’s other demands include an update and improvement of pension, a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners, and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to switch to the old pension scheme (OPS). Several public sector banks have started issuing advisories asking customers to use digital channels such as mobile banking, ATMs, internet banking, BC points and UPI for their banking needs if the strike goes ahead.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which claims to represent 90% of the banking workforce, is primarily seeking a five-day banking week, among other demands. Bank unions under the UFBU had also gone on a nationwide strike on September 11 over the demand for a five-day banking week. The proposed three-day strike also coincides with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30, a date of particular significance for reconciliation, provisioning, and treasury and market operations. If the dispute remains unresolved, the unions have warned of an indefinite nationwide strike beginning October 26, potentially leading to further disruption of branch-based banking services. (With inputs from PTI)
They are also seeking the resolution of other pending service-related issues and have called for previously agreed commitments to be implemented without further delay. This comes after the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) decided to proceed with the strike after a conciliation meeting before the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner on Tuesday remained inconclusive.
