5-Day Work Week: Nationwide stir hits bank ops

New Delhi: Banking services across the country were disrupted on Tuesday as bank employees and officers went on a nationwide strike demanding immediate implementation of a five-day work week, with all Saturdays declared holidays.

The strike was called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body representing nine major unions in the banking sector. Most branches of public sector banks (PSBs) were either fully closed or partially operational as both officers and staff participated in the strike.

Services such as cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque clearances and routine administrative work were affected at banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda, among others.

In a statement, UFBU said the strike was observed by around eight lakh bank employees and officers working across PSBs, private sector banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks. In a statement, the forum described the strike as a 'total success' and says bank staff across the country held demonstrations demanding the implementation of a five-day work week in the banking industry.

The unions are pressing for government approval to declare all remaining Saturdays as holidays, in line with recommendations made by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) following memorandums of understanding signed between the IBA and UFBU in December 2023, and the settlement and joint note signed in March 2024. At present, only the second and fourth Saturdays of every month are bank holidays.

According to UFBU, the demand for a five-day work week has been pending for years. In the 2015 settlement, the government and the IBA had agreed to declare the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays, while assuring unions that the remaining Saturdays would be considered for holidays at a later stage. The issue, however, remained unresolved.