Chennai,Sept 11:
More than 500 bank employees staged a protest near the Chennai District Collectorate on Friday as part of the nationwide strike called by bank unions, demanding the immediate implementation of a five-day banking week and resolution of issues related to the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
The protest was organised by the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) and led by its general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam. The protesters raised slogans against the Union government and urged it to implement the agreement on five-day banking without further delay. Bank unions across the country observed the strike on September 11.
Speaking to reporters, Venkatachalam said banks currently remained closed on only two Saturdays every month, while employees were required to work on the other two Saturdays. He demanded that all Saturdays be declared holidays to introduce a five-day working week.
He said the Indian Banks’ Association had agreed to the five-day banking system in the bilateral agreement signed in March 2024. Under the agreement, employees had also agreed to extend their working hours from Monday to Friday by 40 minutes to ensure that customer service hours were not reduced.
According to Venkatachalam, the proposal was subsequently sent to the Union Finance Ministry for approval but has remained pending for nearly two-and-a-half years. The unions have argued that the prolonged delay has forced them to intensify their agitation.
Venkatachalam claimed that more than eight lakh bank employees were participating in the nationwide agitation. He said the government had continued to delay action on the employees’ demands despite repeated discussions and negotiations.
He also warned that bank employees would observe another three-day nationwide strike on September 28, 29 and 30 if their demands were not addressed. The UFBU has also announced the possibility of an indefinite nationwide strike from October 26 if the issues remain unresolved.
The bank unions have also raised objections to aspects of the performance-linked incentive system and highlighted several other pending service-related demands. They have accused the Union government of delaying the resolution of issues affecting bank employees and officers.
Venkatachalam further alleged that the Centre was continuing to hand over public-sector institutions to large corporate groups, and criticised what he described as policies that were weakening the public-sector banking system.
The nationwide strike is expected to affect branch-level banking services, particularly in public-sector banks, though digital services such as UPI, internet banking, mobile banking and ATMs are generally expected to remain available.