SHILLONG/GUWAHATI: Banking services across India are expected to face significant disruption on January 27, 2026, as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has announced a nationwide strike involving nearly eight lakh employees and officers.
The strike will affect operations across Public Sector Banks, Private Banks, Foreign Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and Co-operative Banks, the UFBU confirmed.
The central demand of the UFBU—an umbrella body comprising nine major bank unions including the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) and National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE)—is the implementation of a five-day working week for the banking sector.
At present, banks observe holidays on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. The unions are demanding that all Saturdays be declared holidays, a proposal that was recommended by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) following a Memorandum of Understanding signed in December 2023 and a joint settlement reached in March 2024.
According to the UFBU, the delay in government approval has persisted despite repeated assurances. Key points raised by the unions include:
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Extended Working Hours: Bank employees have already agreed to compensate for the loss of working Saturdays by increasing daily working hours by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday.
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Pending Government Approval: Despite IBA’s recommendation and assurances from the government in early 2025, final clearance has remained pending for nearly two years.
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Deferred Strike: A strike planned for March 2025 was postponed after the government stated the issue was under active consideration. With no progress since, the UFBU said it was “forced” to resort to industrial action.
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Parity with Other Sectors: The unions pointed out that a five-day work week is already followed by institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), LIC, GIC, stock exchanges, and Central and State government offices.
UFBU General Secretary Rupam Roy acknowledged that the strike may cause temporary inconvenience to customers but argued that a five-day work week would not adversely affect banking services in the long term.
“Declaring the remaining Saturdays as holidays will not pose major problems for customers, especially with the widespread availability of alternative banking channels such as ATMs, mobile banking and internet banking,” Roy said.
The UFBU expressed regret over the inconvenience to the public but maintained that bank employees feel discriminated against compared to other financial and government sector employees, prompting the call for a nationwide strike.
