The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) will begin a nationwide strike on September 11 over the delay in implementing a five-day banking week, differences over performance-linked incentive schemes, and several other pending demands, including pension related issues.

If the strike materialises, banking services, especially in public sector banks, would be impacted for four days in many parts of the country. September 11 is a Friday, and the subsequent two days are bank holidays. September 14 is a holiday in some states for Ganesh Chaturthi.

UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank employees’ and officers’ unions, has also threatened a subsequent three-day nationwide strike beginning September 28, coinciding with half-yearly closure.

They have also decided to go on an indefinite strike from October 26 onwards if their demands fall on deaf ears.

The decision was taken at a meeting held on Sunday with the UBFU stating that the government had a “negative attitude” towards key demands.

Pending for two years

On five-day banking, it said the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) agreed to the proposal as part of the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note signed on March 8, 2024, under which working hours were to be increased by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday.

The proposal was subsequently recommended to the government but has remained pending for more than two years, it said.

The unions have also objected to the government’s PLI scheme for bank officers of Scale IV and above, saying it differs from the understanding reached with the IBA that performance-linked incentives would be linked to the overall performance of individual banks and would be uniform for employees and officers up to Scale VII.

Under the government’s scheme, officers in Scale IV and above could receive PLI of up to 365 days’ basic pay based on individual performance, while workmen employees and officers up to Scale III would receive a maximum of 15 days’ basic pay plus dearness allowance, it said.

The issue of PLI is currently under conciliation before the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) following the strike call issued by the UFBU and is also pending before the Delhi High Court, it claimed.

The UFBU further alleged that despite the pendency of conciliation proceedings and its offer to hold bilateral discussions with the IBA, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has advised banks to implement the government’s performance-linked incentive scheme.

Crediting of performance-linked incentive under the DFS scheme has now actually commenced in the banks, the UFBU said, alleging that this was in violation of the status quo obligation during conciliation proceedings.

The UFBU argued that the present PLI scheme suggested by the DFS would disproportionately benefit a small section of officers and undermine the principle of uniformity in incentives across cadres.

The residual demands, including updating and improving pensions, 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), also remained unresolved.