E-Paper
Nationwide bank strike today: Which banks are affected? Check details
Nationwide bank strike today: While public sector banks prepare for a strike on January 27, private sector banks are expected to operate normally.
Although private-sector banks might not get affected, public sector banking operations are likely to be disrupted on Tuesday, January 27, after bank employee unions called for a nationwide strike, pressing for immediate implementation of their long-standing demand for a five-day workweek.
If the strike, which was announced on January 23, goes as planned by the bank employee unions, public sector banks would bear a heavy brunt as customers would not be able to avail services for the third consecutive day, after banks remained shut on Sunday, January 25 and Monday, January 26, on the occasion of Republic Day.
The State Bank of India on January 23 also announced that while it tried to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices on January 27, there is a possibility of operations being hampered.
“In this connection, we advise that while the Bank has made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices on the day of strike, it is likely that work in the Bank may be impacted by the Strike,” an official statement from SBI read.
Most public sector banks have already informed their customers about disruptions to banking services if the strike materialises, HT earlier reported.
What are the demands behind the strike?
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which is an umbrella organization comprising nine major bank unions in India, representing employees and officers across public sector banks and some old generation private banks, held meetings with the chief labour commissioner on Wednesday and Thursday. In a statement issued after that, the union said that it was going ahead with the strike as the meetings bore no results.
The bank employees pressed demands for a five-day-long workweek.
Currently, apart from Sundays, banks remain shut every second and fourth Saturday of each month.
Since the UFBU comprises public sector bank unions in India, private sector banks such as ICICI Bank. HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank etc are expected to remain unaffected by the strike and function normally on January 27.
What led to the demand?
According to the previous HT report, the idea of a five-day workweek emerged in March 2024, during a wage revision settlement, when UFBU decided to declare all Saturdays as bank holidays.
Citing that the RBI, LIC, GIC, stock exchanges, and government offices already follow a five-day workweek, and that there was no justification for banks to function otherwise, the UFBU earlier said that it was unfortunate that the government did not respond to its ‘genuine demand’.
“There would be no loss of man-hours as we have agreed to work an extra 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday,” UFBU had said earlier this month.
