The United Forum of Bank Unions and other unions and associations have called strikes over two demands, implementation of a five-day banking week and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The government said it had already decided to keep the PLI scheme in abeyance, which it described as addressing one of the unions’ two principal demands.
The Finance Ministry said a one-day strike was held on September 11, while a three-day strike has been scheduled from September 28 to 30. An indefinite strike has also been proposed from October 26, with the five-day workweek remaining the outstanding demand.
The ministry said the government had held several rounds of conciliation with the unions to address the issue through dialogue.
The September 28-30 strike coincides with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30. According to the ministry, the date is significant for reconciliation, provisioning, and treasury and market operations.
The ministry said the proposed strike, together with the preceding weekend, would result in an effective five-day closure of banking services and could affect customers, businesses, government transactions and international banking operations.
The government also highlighted measures taken for bank employees in recent years, including increases in salary and allowances, expansion of the Staff Welfare Fund, higher executive posts and increased recruitment.
According to the ministry, PSBs recruited around 4,82,800 employees between FY2014-15 and FY2025-26, with recruitment doubling in the last three years. As of July 1, 2026, 95.84% of officer positions and 92% of subordinate/award staff positions were filled, it said.Other measures cited by the ministry include special leave provisions for women employees, revision of family pensions, a monthly ex-gratia amount for pensioners and family pensioners, a revised medical insurance policy for retirees and higher conveyance allowance for employees with benchmark disabilities.
The ministry also said that, for the first time, the government has begun negotiations for the upcoming Bipartite Settlement ahead of the November 2027 deadline, with the aim of completing the process well in advance.
Five-day banking has been a long-standing demand of bank unions. The government noted that it had declared the second and fourth Saturdays of every month as public holidays for public sector banks in 2015, while the remaining Saturdays continue to be working days.
The Finance Ministry urged bank employees to “refrain from resorting to strikes, work towards resolving issues through dialogue, and ensure that banking services remain uninterrupted.”