Banking customers, take note: a full-day strike called by major unions threatens to disrupt services across India on January 27. The rallying cry? A standardized five-day work week to replace the current grueling schedule.
Organized by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU)—comprising nine employee and officer groups—the protest runs from 12:01 AM January 26 to 12:01 AM January 27. Expect delays in transactions, online banking glitches, and closed counters.
Legal notices under the 1947 Industrial Disputes Act have been dispatched to IBA, labour commissioner, and financial services department. The pivotal ask: make every Saturday a bank holiday, mirroring corporate India’s model.
This stems from a hard-won 2023 agreement with IBA, reiterated in a 2024 note, now pending government and RBI clearance. Unions recall 2015’s milestone of bi-monthly Saturday holidays, followed by exhaustive dialogues yielding partial wins.
In a concession, staff pledge 40 extra daily minutes to preserve output. Despite this, nine months of inaction post-promises have forced the strike. ‘Work-life balance is non-negotiable,’ unions assert, amid staffing shortages and 24/7 digital pressures.
As India celebrates Republic Day, this labour standoff highlights banking’s human cost. Swift intervention could prevent chaos, but history suggests unions mean business, potentially reshaping sector norms for generations.