(Photo Courtesy: United Forum of Bank Unions@UFBUIndia)
New Delhi, January 23 (MExN): The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which consists of nine unions of bank employees and officers, has called for an all India bank strike on January 27. The strike is to demand the government’s approval for the implementation of a five-day work week in the banking industry, as per agreements already signed with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
The unions stated that the current practice of declaring the 2nd and 4th Saturdays as holidays, established in the 2015 settlement, was accompanied by an assurance that their demand for making all Saturdays holidays would be considered in due course. The matter, however, remained pending.
Following discussions in 2023, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the IBA and UFBU on December 7, proposing an increase in daily working hours from Monday to Friday by 40 minutes to facilitate declaring the remaining Saturdays as holidays. This was formalised in a settlement on March 8, 2024, and recommended to the government, but approval has been pending for nearly two years.
The UFBU had previously called for a two-day strike on March 24-25, 2025, which was deferred after the government stated the issue was under active consideration. The unions allege that despite this assurance, no approval has been granted.
They highlighted that a five-day week is already functional in the Reserve Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation, central and state government offices, stock exchanges, money markets, and foreign exchange transactions, arguing that bank employees are being unfairly singled out.
“We request the banking public to bear with us for any inconvenience caused,” the forum said in a statement.
